ON THE ROAD TO ATLANTA: Ukraine's swimmers take silver medals in Rio (12/17/95)

ON THE ROAD TO ATLANTA

Ukraine's swimmers take silver medals in Rio

by George Hawrylyshyn

RIO DE JANEIRO - Competing in the Rio de Janeiro World Swimming Short Course (25-meter pool) Championship, Svitlana Bondarenko repeated her performance at the last European Championship winning silver medals in 100- and 200-meter breaststroke.

In the process, the 24-year-old mother of a 31/2 year-old girl and one of Ukraine's best prospects for women's medals at the Olympics in Atlanta, also set new Ukrainian records: 1:07.78 for the 100 and 2:24.78 for the 200.

Another Ukrainian record was set by Rostyslav Svanidze, 24, Ukrainian of Georgian background, who placed fifth in both the 100- and 200-meter men's freestyle. The latter is his specialty, and Mr. Svanidze beat his own Ukrainian record in the category: 1:48.73.

The third and youngest member of the Ukrainian team, Natalia Zolotuchna, 18, was just coming out of juvenile competitions and managed to reach the B-finals in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly category.

This year's Short Course Championship was held in a unique setting: a pool dug into the sands of Copacabana Beach in the center of Rio de Janiero. The pool was framed by the Sugar Loaf Mountain on one side and the South Atlantic stretching out into the horizon in the direction of Africa on the other.

With three swimmers, the Ukrainian contingent was one of the smallest in a competition that, despite the absence of Russian gold medalist Alexander Popov and some of the better American swimmers, resulted in five new world records.

The winning team, Australia, had 42 swimmers, even more than the 36 on the third-place Brazilian home team. (China was second.)

Ukraine's three swimmers, with two silver medals, placed 14th in the medals ranking - one step ahead of a Russian team of 10 swimmers and also ahead of other countries with a competitive swimming tradition such as Poland, France and Hungary.

To come to Rio, the three Ukrainian swimmers, two coaches and one organizer had to face a 20-hour train ride from their native Zaporizhzhia north to Moscow and then a 26-hour (with three stopovers) Aeroflot flight southwest to Brazil. That's because the Russian carrier charges less than half the going rate of Air Ukraine or other airlines with more direct routes. Temperatures in Zaporizhzhia were running 2 or 3 below zero (Centigrade), and in Copacabana they were reaching 40.

The team's coach, Ivan Poskura, and the president of the Ukrainian Swimming Federation, Andriy Vlasko, said that travel time and temperatures notwithstanding the three swimmers performed well enough to break three national records.

They said all three study physical education at the University of Zaporizhzhia, and form one of several groups of swimmers being trained in various parts of Ukraine. Both officials feel Ukraine has a good chance to bring some swimming medals back from Atlanta in 1996.

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