Rowing

Rowing is a cyclical sport. Athletes are in boats and row with oars, using the muscles of the back, arms and legs, going the distance backwards, in contrast to rowing in kayaks and canoes. It is most common and popular in Western Europe, Russia, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Romania.

Rowing has been included in the Olympic Games program since 1896 (for women since 1976). In addition to the Olympic Games, the World Championship, the World Cup, the Nations Cup, the World Student Championship, and the World Youth Championship are held annually.

Rowing in Uzbekistan began to develop around 1961, but it received its recognition in 1955, after it was included in the program of the Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, in which representatives of the republic had already participated.

Rowing received widespread development when a water sports rowing base was built on the Syrdarya River (1961), near the city of Bekabad, meeting all the training requirements for rowing athletes. The national rowing team, recruited from tall residents of the city of Bekabad, settled here.

Large water, a boathouse for storing boats, a workshop, coaching rooms - all this contributed to the fact that this base has become the main place for training camps and competitions, sports camps, and laying the foundation for future sports results. This base made a great contribution to the development of domestic rowing, both kayaking and canoeing, and rowing.

Bekabad deservedly became one of the cities in the country that supply high-class rowers. Twice at the Spartakiads of the peoples of the USSR, Bekabad took 9th place among the cities of the Union.

The names of the pioneers of rowing in Uzbekistan are still remembered and honored.
These are Marlen Mamutov, Sergei and Viktor Vaskov, Pavel Berezovsky, Abduvasik Ganiev, Vladimir Akimov, Albert Shipin, Vladimir Pakhomov and many others.

They started everything from scratch - they studied themselves and taught athletes. But the great desire and enthusiasm of these people did their job. Rowing in Uzbekistan began to win more and more fans. And already 10 years later (1970), the first master of sports of international class appeared in the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was Vladimir Mustafaev. By the way, Mustafayev is a legendary person. He was the first from Uzbekistan to join the Soviet Union national rowing team, and the first, in 1974, to participate in the World Championships, which took place in Switzerland. He is a multiple champion of the Soviet Union and the only “academician” athlete from Uzbekistan who won the Union Cup in three classes of boats (single sculls, double sculls and quadruple sculls). In 1976, a four without a helmsman, consisting of Masters of Sports of the International Class Viktor Koshcheev, Alexander Zaitsev, Yuri Maksimenko and Vladimir Gubaidullin, won the USSR Championship and became participants in the World Championship.

Today, rowing in Uzbekistan has quite significant results. Even just listing the sporting results of our academic rowers speaks volumes.