The Shape of Uzbekistan Rowing

Uzbekistan oar colours
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Uzbekistan gained independence from the former Soviet Union in 1992 and about that time Sevara Ganieva attempted her first strokes. Twelve years later Ganieva is still rowing and competed at the Milan World Cup last week. At 22 years old she’s also the team’s unofficial spokesperson because of her grasp of English and with her long blonde and brown streaked hair, Teva sandals and sports clothes she could be from any Western European country.

Rowing is not a new sport to the country. It was expanded under the Soviet system and Uzbeks competed on the national Soviet team, training at centralized venues in other parts of the Union including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

When Uzbekistan gained independence the new government committed itself to the development of ?physical culture? and one of the first laws adopted was to support this obligation. Sports facilities meeting international standards were built in all provinces of the country under the new law.

According to Ganieva rowing missed out. ?We still use old boats from the USSR. We have no money,? says Ganieva. She bemoans the fact that the majority of sports funding goes to the most popular sports in the country ? football, tennis and boxing.

Ganieva competed in the lightweight double along with her sister, Zarrina, at Milan. They are part of the 20-strong national team that train full-time with government funding.

A typical training day for Ganieva includes 40 ? 50 minutes warm-up in the morning with two hours on-the-water training and another water session of about one and a half hours in the afternoon. The crew does not train on Sunday and has additional rest days after major competitions. Ganieva has been doing this for six years.

Ganieva sees her future in rowing as sketchy. ?It depends on government funding. I may row for one year longer, but I’m tired of the politics.? The lightweight double plans to compete at the World Championships in Milan and then race at the Asian Championships in China in October.

At Milan the Uzbekistan crew included a men’s four in addition to the lightweight women’s double.