Crimean Post: What X-Fest Sevastopol was like

Sun, sea, live music and flights over the water – that’s what united Sevastopol residents and guests of the city last weekend.

The festival grounds were Khrustalny Beach, Kornilov Embankment and Nakhimov Square. As part of the event, the 1st National Cup of Sevastopol on skateboarding was held in Crimea, as well as the 1st Open National Championship on wakeboarding, the winner of which was 16-year-old athlete Nikolai Volokhov.

“Championship” managed to talk to the young athlete between skating sessions.

– Kolya, hi! Today you turned 16 years old. Why did you start wakeboarding at such a young age?
– The thing is that my mom (Natalia Rumyantseva, the pride of Soviet and Russian water skiing. – Note: “Championship”) is a 24-time champion and absolute European champion in water skiing. Her record was not broken until the 2000s. My mom instilled in me a love for such an unusual kind of sport. At the age of 4 I started water skiing, then I had a big break. When my mom opened Vo Club (water-skiing club), I saw how people were wake-skiing and realized that I wanted to do the same. So I started practicing the sport.

– You made it to the semifinals. Tell us how it felt.
– I didn’t do exactly what I planned. For this competition I prepared a different program, but did not take into account that there are no waves where I train. Because of the weather conditions (waves) I had to improvise a bit. In addition, there are three passes, and I was counting on only two. Because of this, I now have to change the program on the fly. I hope the next performance will be more successful.

– What are your impressions of the festival?
– I like it very much. You can see that people are interested in sports. Yesterday a girl came up to me and asked me where I do my training, who teaches me, etc. It’s great that people are interested in unusual sports like wakeboarding. The people here are very friendly and the atmosphere is nice.

– And tell me about Vo Club.
– It’s a very cool place! We skate in Moscow, in the small Stroginsky Bay. Not only the best riders from Moscow train there, but also athletes from other cities. We hold a lot of championships there. I will return from the festival and just get to the Moscow Championship, which will be held until July 23.

– Is there a big difference between riding on the river and on the sea?
– Huge. On the sea there are always waves. There is almost no wind in the bay where I train, so there are no waves. Because of the waves it is quite difficult to perform some tricks that are easy to do on calm water. But, I think, the professionalism of a rider lies in the ability to perform tricks on any water and in any wind.

– Plans for the near future?
– At the end of summer I will fly to Egypt for the European Championship. I will participate in my group (“juniors”), and maybe I will be able to participate in the strongest category – “Open Man”.

In addition to the wakeboarding championship, on the territory of “Khrustalny” beach there were demonstration performances of flyboarders and aquabikers from St. Petersburg. The most courageous and desperate girls were able to fly over the water together with athletes and got unforgettable impressions. The burning Crimean sun did not frighten the guests of the festival, the embankment was crowded with people for two days in a row.

On the first day of the festival Dmitry Ovsyannikov, the Vice-Governor of Sevastopol, visited the festival with his family. The head of the city watched the performances of aquabikers and flyboarders, talked to the festival guests and athletes, and then moved to the Kornilov Embankment, where he not only watched the performances of skateboarders, but also played basketball and scored a three-pointer. On the streets of the city, in addition to special sports grounds, there were tables for ping-pong, table soccer and basketball rings. The head of the city said that all these facilities, as well as ramps for skateboarding will remain in Sevastopol and in the future will be used during sports and entertainment city events.

The huge square in the city center was filled with people for two days, and it is not surprising, because for the guests of the festival performed such bands as “Kirpichi” and “Underwood”, as well as singer Guyana and popular rap singer GUF.

The organizer of the festival, Yuri Pashkov, said that he plans to hold the sports festival next year as well, with a big scope.