ISTANBUL (AP) – During a pool training session a few months ago, Ukrainian war veteran Olekovni was struck by the idea: what if a group of veterans swam the straits Boshols between the European and Asian coasts in Turkey? And what if they did that on Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24th?
The symbolism of the day will draw attention to the tolls and devastation given by Russia’s complete war with Ukraineit’s now in its fourth year.
When the 34-year-old pitched the idea to fellow veterans for another support group, no one caused obstacles, particularly amputations, as a barrier. The two quickly joined him.
They were coached by Capitaltri, Kyiv’s amateur triathlon team, with the support of Superhumans Center, a Ukrainian veteran rehabilitation clinic. They agreed that many Ukrainian injured people have another goal of raising funds for costs and urgently needed prosthetics.
“We don’t ask for sympathy,” Zerkovni told The Associated Press just before the competition. “We’re looking for support.”
Races that connect the continents
After months of rigorous training, discipline and physical challenges, three Ukrainian veterans joined more than 2,800 swimmers from 81 countries at the 6.5-kilometer (4-mile) Asian-to-Europe crossing.
The Boss Horace Intercontinental Swimming Race is an annual open water event in Istanbul, hosted by the Turkish Olympic Committee since 1989.
All three Ukrainians completed the intersection, each swimming for over an hour. Two veterans who had been amputated faced with a set-off before they began. Organizers first banned competition and insisted that they needed to be in a different category for people with disabilities.
But they worked hard in the race with others and swam.
For Ukrainians, it is not only about durability, but about regaining control over the bodies transformed by war and sharing their recovery with a world where they often seem to be indifferent to being injured.
I’m looking for a balance underwater
Sports have always been part of Zerkovni’s life, but war and injury have led him to use it as a survival tool after two serious, life-changing concussions.
“The sport itself is soothing – we saw it firsthand,” he said. “And the community, it pulls you out. It pushes you forward, it disciplines you.”
When he speaks, he immediately points out the changes seen in himself – stud, unwilling convulsions of his eyes.
“It’s something that remains. It was even worse before,” he said.
Both of his concussions were the result of prolonged exposure to artillery while serving on the frontline. He was a sniper on his second hit. He then said he felt like he had lost all his sense of balance.
“I could walk, but suddenly I just flipped over like a pencil,” Tserkovnyi said. “I have three degrees of hearing loss on one side and have no surrounding vision.”
The feeling of being a “sick person” felt so alien to him that he threw himself into recovery with everything he had. For a long time, he also had PTSD symptoms, including dramatic flashbacks to the war.
However, it was at Poole that he found a way to recognize warning signs. “I started to understand what they were causing, when they came and how to stay in front of them,” he said.
The road to return to yourself
Engineer Pavlo Tovstyk signed up early on as a volunteer A full-scale invasion of Russia’s Ukraine In February 2022, he stepped into a landmine in June 2023, working as a driver for the Intelligence Report Unit.
The explosion took his leg and subsequent surgery led to a partial amputation of his left leg.
The 47-year-old, once an active swimmer as a child, never thought swimming would become a lifeline. He was still recovering from his injury. He began sneaking into the swimming pool, keeping it a secret from the doctor.
“Water has become a kind of savior for me,” he said. “At the time, everything felt confused. But in the water, my thoughts, my strength, my body – it all came together again. I became myself again.
The idea of swimming the straits in Türkiye began almost as courage and became a plan.
“To surpass bosshorus, you need a certain way of thinking, not just physical fitness, it’s a state of determination that we all could find within ourselves,” he said.
The calmness of purpose
Oleksandr Dashko only discovered swimming after losing her left leg.
The 28-year-old joined the army at the start of the Russian invasion and served on various frontline infantry.
In June 2023, the mine exploded near him, and sh shotguns tore into his knees.
“I didn’t take it very politely,” he said. Adjusting to your life through amputation is slow and mentally taxed.
It was only the past year that he was able to concentrate on physical rehabilitation. And he said swimming has become an activity that gives him a sense of calm.
The challenge of swimming boss horace became Dashiko’s goal.
“When I do nothing, I get back to that state right after an injury – a sense of depression, indifference, amputation is prevailing,” he said. “But when something like this appears in my path, it shocks me – to live, to move forward, to motivate others.”
The physical goals are helping him pin him, he said. He wants more challenges not only for himself, but for other veterans.
“To be honest, if that wasn’t the case, I would probably be drunk somewhere and lying under the fence,” he said.
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Alilova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.
