The Black Sea of Ukraine has played host to the Ukrainian National Championships. Not this year, unfortunately. Photo: USF
Despite the constant sirens that warn of missiles flying over his apartment in Odesa, Ukraine, Vasyl Kordysh continues work as usual at his desk – sitting beside two surfboards that lean against the wall.
As with all Ukrainians, Kordysh’s life has been greatly altered since Russia’s invasion. His business guiding surf trips abroad has become all but impossible with the war-time ban on men leaving the country. He has had to adapt his sources of income, finding online freelance work abroad.
Kordysh hasn’t surfed his local waves in over a year. But even though he can’t surf, he is dedicating himself to ensuring that Ukrainian surfing continues to thrive.
As the President of the Ukrainian Surfing Federation, Kordysh is working from the confines of his apartment to organize the Ukrainian National Surfing Championship this year. It won’t be in Ukraine, whose waters are laced with mines and periodically hit by missiles, but in the peace of the world-renowned surf town of Peniche, Portugal from May 6-7.
The results will be used to select a team to compete in the World Surfing Games, an Olympic qualifier, in El Salvador this year.
“The goal is to show that Ukrainian surfing is still alive,” said Kordysh. “Last year we had to hold our national championships online, but this year we talked with the Portuguese Surfing Federation (FPS) and we decided to cooperate in putting on the event in Portugal.”
According to João Aranha, the President of FPS, the decision to aid Ukraine in their championship was a no-brainer.
“When we have a nation that is facing such a desperate situation of war and loss, it was almost a moral obligation to do whatever it was in our grasp to help them reach a sense of normality,” Aranha explained. “With peace being such a difficult goal, at least we can give them our solidarity and our waves.”
As it stands, the surfers who would be able to compete in the event are Ukrainian women who have permission to leave the country or Ukrainians who were already living abroad before the war. Kordysh estimates that along with himself, there are five to 10 surfers who would attend the national championships, but are currently stuck in Ukraine.
“We are still in the process of getting surfing recognized as an official sport within the Ukrainian Ministry of Sport and the National Olympic Committee,” said Kordysh. “(The hope is that) they will give us permission to leave the country for the competition.”
Nina Zavodchikova is congratulated by her Ukrainian teammates after a strong showing in Huntington Beach. Photo: Sean Evans/ISA.
“Most of the competitors will be Ukrainians who live abroad,” added Kordysh. “People will be coming from Portugal, USA, France, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, for example.”
A national championship abroad is not only a creative step by the Ukrainians to keep the surf program alive, but a necessary one. Kordysh says it is estimated that upon the end of the war, it will take five to ten years to de-mine the seas of Ukraine.
In 2022 the Ukrainians overcame the challenges of not being able to host a championship, selecting a full national team via online video submissions. They sent a full team to compete in the 2022 World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach, California.
It was in this event that the International Surfing Association (ISA) also made the decision to ban athletes from Russia until further notice. It’s a decision that presumably will stand in 2023 and one that Kordysh supports.
“Because of the Russian aggression, the Ukrainian surfers can’t properly train – and unfortunately some athletes have already died in the war,” said Kordysh. “It’s not fair to allow Russians to compete. They should be banned on all levels. I don’t want to see Russian athletes in the Olympics either. My opinion is strong about this.”
While Kordysh waits out the war in Odesa and dedicates himself to continuing his work in the surfing federation, he knows that things can change at any moment.
“The building that I used to live in before the war was hit by rockets,” said Kordysh. “If I hadn’t changed apartments I could be dead. And I still haven’t been called to join the army yet, but it could happen any day.”
When the war started, Kordysh initially felt anger and fear about the situation he found himself in. But lately, Kordysh has been feeling more optimistic that Ukraine can make it through the atrocity, and in particular, the surfers can persevere.
“Even with war, (us surfers) are brave and still here, and we will do our best to represent our country,” Kordysh said.
