Due to the war, Portugal was chosen to host the Ukrainian national surfing championship. The race takes place this weekend in Peniche. Unable to celebrate in their home country, the Ukrainian federation turned to the Portuguese counterpart, who accepted the challenge.
TO TSFthe national technical director, Tiago Matos, says that despite the difficulties and the fact that most of the Ukrainian surfers were not in their country of origin, the organization managed to bring together the best.
“This year we received the challenge from the Ukrainian federation due to the difficulties they have in making the championship in Ukraine and also in preparation for the world tour. We made the championship for them in the same way as the world championship so they can train and lead to the team in the best possible conditions. There are several surfers who are in Portugal and have been training in the waves of Peniche, the surfers come from abroad, there was some difficulty to get the best Ukrainian surfers due to the difficulties they currently have, we have 24 surfers male, 9 female surfers and 4 juniors”, says Tiago Matos.
The test began to prepare in September of last year. Tiago Matos, from the Portuguese Surfing Federation, says that the basis of this collaboration is friendship.
“The president of the Portuguese federation already has a strong friendship with the president of the Ukrainian federation due to the international events where they were present together, which facilitated contact. When they launched the challenge, we were immediately willing to help them. The support of the local club and we have tried to do things with the means of the federation and do everything possible to help”, he adds.
The president of the Ukrainian Surfing Federation will not be present in Peniche, as he expects to be recruited to the front lines “at any moment”. Even so, he worked with the Portuguese Surfing Federation to organize the race that starts this Saturday.
Source: TSF
