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Sergei PUNKO
Born January 10, 1981. Honored Master of Sports in swimming. He stands for the Youth of Moscow Youth Sports School of Equal Opportunities. Coach - Sergey Zhilkin. Quadruple Champion Paralympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012), multiple champion world and European champion World Games blind 2011, multiple champion of Russia. Higher education.
Sergei Punko, as befits a leader, inspired his younger partners to great achievements in London by his example. Sergei has already won at the Paralympic Games, he knows the price of each medal won. Therefore, only he himself is best able to objectively evaluate his current Paralympic campaign.
Feelings are twofold, - says Sergey. - On the one hand, I won three medals. On the other hand, he planned two "gold". But in the integrated swimming at 200 meters, as they say, "didn't work." Unsuccessfully swam a segment of the distance breaststroke. Apparently there is a mistake somewhere preparation period: in the last month and a half before London began to decline. Therefore, before the first final, I was a little worried: I was afraid to make a false start. Only after the first won medal "released".
- Maybe you felt discomfort in the London pool?
On the contrary, "Aquatic Center" is very similar to our "Olympic".
- You have something to compare. After all, this is the third Paralympic Games for you.
These were perhaps the most intense Games. The competition is growing, but the more honorable it is to win medals. It is very pleasant that the audience is increasing every time. When you perform in front of packed stands, the feeling is beyond words!
The Russian team took the second team place in London. I am sure that if the state continues to support its Paralympic athletes, then nothing will prevent us from becoming the first in Rio in four years.
Against the background of your successes, the performance of the Russian Olympic team was regarded by many as a failure. Say something in defense of the Olympians?
You cannot compare the results of the Olympics and the Paralympics. Do not forget that, firstly, we have much more sets of awards, and secondly, the level of competition among Olympians is higher.
- How many years have you been in swimming?
I started as a child back in 1991. Worked for several years athletics, and then somehow a cousin invited me to the pool. He was already swimming, and I was only floundering in the “paddling pool”. My brother put in a word to the coach, and he transferred me to junior group.
The data for swimming were: thin, “lying” high on the water. But the first serious results came only at the age of 16-17. Performed at World youth games in Moscow in 1998, in next year- swam one and a half kilometers at the European Championship.
When I grew up from juniors, I decided to switch to open water: I plowed the "top ten" and a marathon - 25 kilometers. Loads affected health: problems with the back and joints began. But he switched to Paralympic swimming due to visual impairment. Training has nothing to do with it: it's innate. True, until the age of 18, my eyes did not bother me.
- You yourself were looking for opportunities to continue sports career Or slipped thoughts to quit everything?
The case helped. In 2002, there was a story on TV about my current teammate Roman Makarov, who won the Paralympic Games in Sydney. Father immediately said: let's try! In 2003, I already competed at my first competition among athletes with visual impairments.
All this time he trained and performed in Belarus. In 2004, he won two gold medals at the Paralympic Games in Athens, and added another top honor in Beijing. In 2009, they offered to move to Moscow. Agreed.
- How did the capital of Russia meet you?
I was helped by the city, Moskomsport and Youth of Moscow youth sports school of equal opportunities. Neither in household nor in training plan I didn't know any problems. There was perhaps no own housing: he lived either in a hotel, or rented an apartment. Now, thanks to the bonuses for the Paralympic victories, he intends to solve the housing problem. Support for athletes by the state is increasingly tangible. For people it additional incentive achieve something in sports.
- Do not get tired of the bustle of Moscow?
Out of habit, those who come to Moscow for a day or two complain about it.
I’m used to it, and when I’m away from the city for a long time, for example, because of the fees, I’m already drawn to plunge into the maelstrom of metropolitan life as soon as possible.
BY THE WAY
During his swimming career, Sergei Punko won 13 Paralympic medals. In Athens and Beijing, he represented Belarus, in London - Russia.
Athens 2004
Gold. 400m freestyle.
Gold. 200 m integrated swimming.
Silver. 100 m breaststroke
Silver. 100m butterfly.
Silver. 4x100m, freestyle, relay.
Bronze. 100m freestyle.
Bronze. 4x100 m medley relay.
Beijing 2008
Gold. 400m freestyle.
Silver. 100 m breaststroke
Silver. 100m butterfly.
London 2012
Gold. 400m freestyle.
Silver. 100m butterfly.
Bronze. 200 m individual medley.
Sergei Punko is accustomed to responding to advances of trust with handfuls of awards. At the Paralympic Games in Athens, our outstanding swimmer won 7 medals, including two gold ones. Next in line are the jade mines of Beijing. Here the starting distance - 100 meters breaststroke - turned into "silver". The 100-meter butterfly race of the second day of the competition added one more silver regalia to the collection of the Paralympic athlete. It's only the beginning! Ahead - swims at 400 and 200 meters, requiring high-speed endurance, and this is the skate of the pupil of the Youth Sports School "Naftan". Experts highly appreciate the chances of the Novopolotanian for another pedestal. Our readers count on it too. Light water to you, Seryozha! Novopolotsk and all of Belarus are rooting for you! As for the essay on the Novopolotsk Olympionics, it was prepared for the opening of the 2008 Paralympics. However, the extensive subject of the 50th anniversary of the city did not allow publishing it on time. In the end, it turned out even better than expected. We not only have the opportunity to show you the hero in full growth, but also offer an exclusive photo that captures the exciting moment of a conversation between parents and their son. Galina Iosifovna and Vyacheslav Borisovich congratulate Sergei on the first medal of Beijing coinage.
THEY WITH NEPTUNE DO NOT SPILL WATER
Today Sergei Punko, a graduate of the Novopolotsk Children's and Youth Sports School "Naftan", - world star. Hero of the Paralympic Games in Athens and three planetary championships among visually impaired athletes. Only in these four top tournaments did the swimmer win more than 30 medals, including 26 gold ones. But the most surprising thing in his fate is not these regular placers, but the relationship with water.
At the age of seven, - says the athlete's mother Galina Iosifovna, - Serezhenka almost drowned. He splashed, splashed along the banks of the Dvina, and then a careless step - and he was gone. Only circles went on the water. I would like to fly headlong, but my legs do not obey. And my throat, like a tourniquet, intercepted. Instead of a scream, the groan of the jaw reduces ... But, thank God, everything worked out. My boy jumped out of the water with a float. And once, once, miraculously ran aground.
Psychologists say that for a good half of people who drowned in childhood, the frightening proximity of death completely discourages being friends with water. But Sergei belonged to the second half. The water fascinated him, beckoned. And three years after the emergency on the river, he begged his parents to buy a subscription to the Sadko pool. I learned to swim quickly. I wanted to compete with my peers. But the department of Poseidon begins the selection of talents already in kindergartens. To specialists, the lanky lad seemed a hopeless overgrowth. In addition, he was not a strong man by nature. I ate badly. How to build muscle and deal with stress sports section if the boy has half of his school lunch left on his plate? But Sergei was persistent in his requests, and the coaches of the "darlings" took pity. This was credited to them: ordinary human participation turned out to be more vigilant than professional pragmatism.
Punko's champion inclinations appeared very soon. A gambling, stubborn kid more often needed to be restrained than spurred on. Especially after a few years of not childishly hard work, when he finally decided on a specialization and began to compete in long distances. Stayers and without a whip wind in the pool in one workout from 15 to 30 kilometers.
Alas, pure happiness does not exist. Sports achivments and Seryozha's vision went in different courses. Complex astigmatism was not correctable. Worse than that, doctors could not determine the nature of the pathology for a long time. And when the ophthalmologists delivered their verdict, he immediately transferred the leader of the Novopolotsk swimmers to the Paralympians.
Another would have faltered in Punko's place, hurried to convert the unsteady wave into the reinforced concrete peace of sofa cushions. And Sergei began to fight on two fronts. In the pool, his rivals were people with handicapped. On the open water - desperate guys, to whom the devil himself is not a brother.
Aqua marathon runners know that the main test awaits them in Quebec, Canada. Here, adventurous boys and girls defy the cold waters of St. Lawrence. You need to swim 77 kilometers. The one who overcomes this mega-marathon in 15 hours automatically falls into the cohort of "immortals". There are fewer of them than mountain climbers who have ever stood on the top of Everest. And the point is not so much in the range of the swim around the island of Lille de Orleans, but in the climatic isotherms. Freezing on the river lasts from December to April. In a rare year, the water warms up to plus 20 ° Celsius.
In 2002, it was three degrees cooler. For a swimmer who had no winter swimming experience, the step was more than risky, but Sergey went to the start of Greater Quebec. He was lifted onto a rescue boat at the 63rd kilometer. After eleven hours of struggle with the paralyzing cold and half a meter side wave, overtaken by ocean-going ships that were on the river. Picking up, hastily wrapped in a woolen blanket. They put a thermometer under my arm. The mercury column of the device froze at “33”. Incompatible with life, medicine considers the temperature a degree lower.
And yet, the New Polochanian forced the Canadians to take off their hats. A year later, he came to the World Championship among athletes with disabilities and won 7 gold medals in Quebec, while setting 5 world records.
XII Paralympic Games in Greece - the next triumph of the pupil of the Youth Sports School "Naftan". In Athens-2004 Sergey won 7 medals. The 400-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley swims became gold and planetary-record. While the son was forging awards at the Games, the telephone in his parents' apartment did not stop. Colleagues of the married couple, relatives, coaches and school friends of the Olympian, leaders of urban sports called. We, journalists, could not ignore the Greek benefit performance of Punko. On the eve of Sergey won the first "gold". Discussing the good news, Galina Iosifovna was noticeably worried. And, like a prayer, on the other end of the wire she repeated what her mother’s heart told her: “Seryozhenka would be healthy! I would be healthy! .. "
The refrain-amulet was not born from scratch. Water did not always reciprocate Sergei's selfless love. You already know about the clawed embrace of St. Lawrence. There were other tests as well. In the same 2004, the heavenly office let down the Spaniards, the hosts of the European Championship. You can compete in open water provided that it is warmed up: according to international regulations - up to 16 ° Celsius, according to European - up to 14. And aquamarathoners should swim only in swimming trunks or swimsuits - depending on the gender.
And in the Pyrenees, the weather did not work out, the water, despite May, remained icy. What to do? Cancel starts - incur losses. To throw athletes into a cold font is to neglect their health. As often happens, profit prevailed over morality, and Madrid rubbed all the rules with his heel. The temperature on the referee's thermometers was "stretched". Swimmers' wetsuits were looked at through their fingers.
Not all athletes agreed to the role of kamikaze. Moreover, a 60 euro fine for refusing to compete is not money for the wealthy West. People twisted their fingers to their temples, referring to the organizers of the championship, paid a penalty and left home.
Punko, who was a classical swimmer, never had a wetsuit. This is the wardrobe of extreme and applied people. I had to search like a bucket on a fire. The French company "Arena" helped out. The general sponsor of the championship presented the "skin of Ichthyander" worth 500 euros to the Novopolotsk citizen. Gesture wide, do not say anything. But the clothes were selected in a hurry and turned out to be two sizes larger than what would have been fit. At the finish of the 10-kilometer distance, Sergei, one of the main favorites of the swim, dragged three liters of water in his bosom. Unusually far from the podium 16th place, according to by and large, did not upset. Surprised how it got there at all.
These were flowers. A real nightmare for "truckers" was a 25-kilometer half marathon. 19 people out of 32 declared risked to go to the start. Five left the race, and one of them was sent to intensive care. Sergei's suit was changed, but the water in the lake, where the mountain river flows, remained the same. After the 21st kilometer, he sailed on autopilot. I didn't think about speed. Happiness already seemed that the numb hands obeyed the will and could somehow row. Our countryman finished 11th.
The first enemy of the aquamarathon runner is the cold. The second is physical exhaustion, it haunts the athlete at any water temperature. Especially at long distances. Without refueling - a few sips of an energy drink every 20-30 minutes of "hand-to-hand" - a person is threatened with an attack of weakness. And even fainting, which the abyss of the sea can easily confuse with the rejection of life. The Tyrrhenian Sea is already considered warm, but one memory of it makes Sergei shudder.
The case was in 2005. In Italy. If on the map, then there are 36 kilometers between the island of Capri and the Apennines. However, the sea is not an autobahn with road signs. When you have a surge wave in front of you in the height of a man, the horizon starts playing hide and seek. Sergey, together with a marathon runner from Slovenia, broke away from the main group, was confidently leading, but, unfortunately, lost his course. Belarusian and Slovenian went to the target in a large arc. And instead of 36 kilometers, they waved off 45. After six hours of a desperate struggle with the elements, none of them thought of victory. It was important not to lose face and just get to the shore. Finish Punko almost does not remember. He came out of the water in a state of groggy. The expansive crowd of southerners applauded, shouted bravo. And it seemed to him that this was another wave covering him with his head ...
Two years ago, doctors warned Sergei: either marathons or vision. From the previous loads and performances in open water had to be abandoned. But he also has enough work in the pool. Because the station wagon is bad, which swims less than 10 kilometers in training. And Punko is not just a good “multi-stationer”, he is the only one who swims equally victoriously in freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly. Evidence - in the medal accounting of the last world championships. In Durban, South America, 8 medals were won, in Sao Paulo, Brazil - 10. Today, our fellow countryman is the most titled swimmer among visually impaired athletes on the planet and the main hope of the Belarusian team at the 2008 Paralympics.
A month before the start of the Games in China, we spoke with Punko during our last meeting. Exhausted by training, Sergei was laconic. He said that in Beijing he intends to compete every day. That in his program there are 6 personal starts and 2 relay races. And that he will try to win as many jade-studded medals as possible...
09/10/2008
Vladimir FAKEEV, "NG" .
P.S. As it has just become known, at a distance of 400m in freestyle swimming Sergey Punko won gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games! To be continued!..
Swimmer Sergey Punko became one of the most experienced in the Russian delegation at the Paralympic Games in London. He repeatedly climbed the podium in Athens eight years ago, and again went to his next Paralympic Games not as a tourist. Sergei again managed to become the best in his signature distance - 400 meters individual medley. Add to that the silver in the 100m butterfly and the bronze in the 200m medley, and final result become more than successful. By the way, Punko was the only one in our team who managed to collect full set London medals - one award of each value. However, for all that, the swimmer himself admits that the result achieved is not quite the one he expected.
Sergei, probably, now the excitement on the part of journalists and officials for the Russian Paralympic team has subsided a bit. Can you finally get some rest?
- Interest in us is still high, we are constantly invited either to some official reception or to visit journalists, so the schedule is quite tight. It is possible to relax only on weekends, but on weekdays it is too early to dream about it.
Interest in us is still high, we are constantly invited either to some official reception or to visit journalists, so the schedule is quite tight. It is possible to relax only on weekends, but on weekdays it is too early to dream about it.
Of course, now, after a while, emotions subsided somewhat, feelings cooled down a bit, so with a cool head we begin to analyze our performance, draw conclusions from it.
- And what conclusions did you draw for yourself?
- Well, I'm not completely satisfied with my performance, because I planned to swim better in London and win more gold medals. The problem was the 200m medley where I only won bronze. There I set myself the goal of winning gold. Did not work out.
And, nevertheless, you won three medals at this Paralympic Games, which, by the way, weigh a lot. Wasn't it hard for you to wear them all together around your neck during all kinds of receptions and celebrations?
- The medals are heavy, of course, but it's a pleasant heaviness, I even like wearing such a heaviness around my neck (smiles). By the way, it's not as hard for me as it is for some other guys. We have people who have won more awards than me. It's really hard for them (laughs). Well, in any case, wearing medals is easier than winning in the pool.
You did not follow the Russian media in London and social networks, where the Paralympians were vehemently supported throughout the tournament?
- To be honest, I didn’t really manage to do it, because after all, London had a rather busy schedule, at least for swimmers. We tried to be more focused on the result, tuned in to win and did not want to be distracted from this. Many coaches did just that, protecting their wards from the Internet. For example, the players were very strict with this.
Have you followed the overall medal ranking of the Paralympics? Was the goal set for the athletes to be as high as possible in it?
- Of course, we did not closely consider the overall rating after each medal won, but, of course, we followed it.
Yes, my main discipline is 400 meters complex. Yes, I won gold there, everything is fine there. But I basically knew that everything would be fine there. I wanted to perform well at other distances, but it didn’t quite work out.
Nosebleed goals to rank second overall medal count did not stand, but, I think, any athlete understood that the higher Russia was, the better, so he fought for victory with all his might.
You say that you are not completely satisfied with your performance. What exactly do you not like, because the main distance brought gold?
- Yes, my main discipline is 400 meters complex. Yes, I won gold there, everything is fine there. But I basically knew that everything would be fine there. I wanted to perform well at other distances, but it didn’t quite work out.
- What is your winning tactic? What is more important - a confident start or a quick finish?
- Yes, sprinters like to say that the main thing is to start quickly and confidently right away, but since I still swim long distances, my goal is to save energy for the second half of the distance so that, for example, at 400 meters I could add on the last 200.
Do you have a desire to try yourself as an official? Develop the Paralympic Movement in the near future?
- I don’t know, if I was offered to participate in something like this, I wouldn’t refuse. It is interesting and useful, but, nevertheless, I do not plan to give up swimming yet. I don’t know how it will turn out in the future, now I need to rest and weigh everything.
Russian athlete Sergei Punko, who won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle swimming competition. Photo: Anton Denisov / RIA Novosti
Almost drowning as a child, he decided to become a real swimmer. I almost went blind, became the winner of the Paralympics.
Paralympic athletes are always an example of the inflexibility of the human will and the irrepressible desire to live. Overcoming all difficulties, athletes with disabilities achieve the highest Olympic awards. One of these people is Sergei Punko, an athlete who recently represented the Belarusian national team. This year, during the presentation of the gold medal in honor of the swimmer, the anthem of the Russian Federation was already playing.
Also in early childhood bad fate could put an end to the career of a swimmer. As psychologists say, after such moments, more than half of people develop a persistent fear of the water element. But this incident had the exact opposite effect on Sergei. The mother of the future champion still recalls those moments with fear.
At the age of seven Serezhenka almost drowned. He splashed, splashed along the banks of the Dvina, and then a careless step - and he was gone. Only circles went on the water. I would like to fly headlong, but my legs do not obey. And my throat caught like a tourniquet. Instead of a scream, the groan of the jaw reduces ... But, thank God, everything worked out. My boy jumped out of the water with a float. And once, once, miraculously ran aground.
When Sergei was 10 years old, he begged his parents to buy him a subscription to the Sadko pool, where he went with his cousin Vadim. Coaches from the Children's and Youth Sports School "Naftan" sometimes came to observe the children's classes. They liked their brother for something, and they took him into sports group. Sergey's desire to engage in professional swimming was stronger than his own pride, and he asked Vadim to "put in a good word for him." The coaches agreed to arrange a personal screening for him, after which they officially accepted Sergey into the Naftan Youth Sports School. The cousin never became an athlete, he chose the profession of a sales representative.
Punko immediately proved to the coaches that they made the right choice by taking him to school. The mentors had not to push the guy, but, on the contrary, to restrain him. After several years of hard training, Sergey finally decided to become an athlete and chose long-distance competitions as his specialization. From 1998 to 2003, Punko successfully performed together with healthy athletes as part of the Belarusian national team. But then he had a conflict with the leadership of the Swimming Federation of Belarus. The athlete seriously considered the decision to leave big sport, but then his father, Vyacheslav Borisovich, intervened. He showed his son the awards ceremony of the 2000 Paralympic champion Roman Makarov and offered to follow in his footsteps. By that time, Sergey had quite serious vision problems. Doctors could not establish the cause of the pathology for a long time. As a result, a diagnosis was made - complex astigmatism.
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Astigmatism is an eye disease. Due to the violation of the sphericity of the cornea, two optical foci appear in the eye, so the person sees a fuzzy, blurry image. A person suffering from astigmatism has poor vision both far and near. It can be difficult for him to determine the distance between objects.
When the coaches found out the diagnosis, they immediately transferred Sergey to the Paralympians. Punko was warmly received at the Paralympic Committee of Belarus, and he began to take part in competitions among visually impaired athletes.
With my disease, vision cannot be corrected, it cannot be restored. Glasses and contact lenses don't help. On the waterway, this practically does not interfere, but in everyday life ... For example, I can’t see the price in the store or the bus number. And so, by and large, I do not feel like a person with disabilities.
For his homeland, Sergei Punko won 29 world championship medals, 20 of them for the first places. But to maintain his already weak vision, the athlete needed annual treatment worth about $2,000. Therefore, Sergey decided to play for the Russian Paralympic team and now he can undergo all the necessary procedures for free. At home, no one began to restrain and criticize him for such a decision, because everyone understood that this was a world practice. Athletes with high ambitions go where they can realize themselves.
All the same, reasonable people understand perfectly well that the chance must be used. Including the chairman of the Paralympic Committee Oleg Shepel. We had a very good, humane conversation at parting. He said: “Seryozha, do what is best for you. I am very sorry that you are leaving, but I cannot give you such opportunities.
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Sergei Vyacheslavovich Punko(belor. Syargey Vyachaslavavich Punko; genus. January 10, 1981, Novopolotsk, Vitebsk region, BSSR, USSR) - Belarusian and Russian athlete, Honored Master of Sports of the Republic of Belarus (2004) and Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2011). Multiple champion and medalist of the Paralympic Games in swimming, multiple world champion and multiple champion of Russia.
Biography
In 2004 he graduated from Vitebsk State University named after P. M. Masherov as a trainer-teacher.
In 2008 he graduated from the Belarusian State Economic University in Minsk with a degree in business management.
He began swimming lessons in Novopolotsk at the Albatros Sports School. Since 2002, he has been performing as an athlete with health restrictions. The first coaches were I. A. Makeev, V. V. Makeeva, Honored Coach of Belarus. He was an athlete-instructor of the national team of Belarus in invasport. Subsequently, he moved to Russia and trains in Moscow at the FSO "Youth of Moscow" and the Youth Sports School "Equal Opportunities". Trained by Honored Coach of Russia Sergey Valentinovich Zhilkin.
Scholarship holder of the President of the Russian Federation.
Awards
Russian awards
Belarus awards
Sports achivments
| Year | Tournament | Discipline | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | XII Summer Paralympic Games in Athens | 100 m freestyle | 3 Bronze | 55.54 |
| 400 m freestyle | 1 Gold | 4:11.58 | ||
| 100 m breaststroke | 2 Silver | 1:11.27 | ||
| 100 m butterfly | 2 Silver | 1:00.18 | ||
| 1 Gold | 2:14.42 | |||
| 2 Silver | 3:55.73 | |||
| 3 Bronze | 4:21.51 | |||
| 2008 | XIII Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing | 400 m freestyle | 1 Gold | 4:08.64 |
| 100 m breaststroke | 2 Silver | 1:09.71 | ||
| 100 m butterfly | 2 Silver | 59.72 | ||
| year 2012 | XIV Summer Paralympic Games in London | 400 m freestyle | 1 Gold | 4:10.26 |
| 100 m butterfly | 2 Silver | 59.47 | ||
| 200 m individual medley | 3 Bronze | 2:14.83 |
| Year | Tournament | Discipline | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | World Championship | 100 m freestyle | 2 Silver | 54.86 |
| 400 m freestyle | 1 Gold | 4:15.80 | ||
| 100 m breaststroke | 1 Gold | 1:09.64 | ||
| 100 m butterfly | 2 Silver | 1:09.64 | ||
| 200 m individual medley | 1 Gold | 2:14.78 | ||
| 4x100m freestyle relay | 2 Silver | 3:51.29 | ||
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | 2 Silver | 4:15.55 | ||
| 5 km, open water | 1 Gold | 1:00:21 | ||
| year 2009 | World Short Course Championship | 100 m freestyle | 2 Silver | 53.76 |
| 400 m freestyle | 1 Gold | 4:06.42 | ||
| 100 m breaststroke | 2 Silver | 1:07.73 | ||
| 100 m butterfly | 2 Silver | 58.85 | ||
| 100 m individual medley | 2 Silver | 1:00.67 | ||
| 200 m individual medley | 1 Gold | 2:10.63 | ||
| 4x100m freestyle relay | 1 Gold | 3:35.92 | ||
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | 1 Gold | 4:00.99 | ||
| 2010 | World Championship | 100 m freestyle | 3 Bronze | 54.54 |
| 400 m freestyle | 1 Gold | 4:11.25 | ||
| 100 m butterfly | 2 Silver | 58.63 | ||
| 200 m individual medley | 2 Silver | 2:14.74 | ||
| 5 km, open water | 1 Gold | 59:58.19 |
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An excerpt characterizing Punko, Sergey Vyacheslavovich
Throughout his convalescence in Orel, Pierre experienced a feeling of joy, freedom, life; but when, during his journey, he found himself in the open world, saw hundreds of new faces, this feeling was even more intensified. All the time he traveled, he experienced the joy of a schoolboy at a vacation. All faces: the coachman, the caretaker, the peasants on the road or in the village - all had a new meaning for him. The presence and remarks of Villarsky, who constantly complained about poverty, backwardness from Europe, and the ignorance of Russia, only heightened Pierre's joy. Where Villarsky saw death, Pierre saw an extraordinary powerful force of vitality, that force that in the snow, in this space, supported the life of this whole, special and united people. He did not contradict Villarsky and, as if agreeing with him (since feigned agreement was the shortest means of circumventing arguments from which nothing could come out), he smiled joyfully as he listened to him.Just as it is difficult to explain why, where the ants rush from a scattered tussock, some away from the tussock, dragging motes, eggs and dead bodies, others back into the tussock - why they collide, catch up with each other, fight - just as difficult it would be to explain the reasons that forced the Russian people, after the French left, to crowd in that place that was formerly called Moscow. But just as, looking at the ants scattered around a devastated tussock, despite the complete annihilation of the hummock, one can see from the tenacity, energy, and innumerable scurrying insects that everything has been destroyed, except for something indestructible, immaterial, constituting the entire strength of the tussock, so too and Moscow, in the month of October, despite the fact that there were no authorities, no churches, no shrines, no riches, no houses, was the same Moscow as it was in August. Everything was destroyed, except for something immaterial, but powerful and indestructible.
The motives of people striving from all sides to Moscow after its cleansing from the enemy were the most diverse, personal, and at first mostly wild animals. Only one impulse was common to all - it was the desire to go there, to that place that was formerly called Moscow, in order to apply their activities there.
A week later, there were already fifteen thousand inhabitants in Moscow, after two there were twenty-five thousand, etc. Rising and rising, this number by the autumn of 1813 had reached a figure exceeding the population of the 12th year.
The first Russian people who entered Moscow were the Cossacks of the Winzingerode detachment, peasants from neighboring villages and residents who fled from Moscow and hid in its vicinity. The Russians who entered devastated Moscow, finding it plundered, began to rob too. They continued what the French were doing. Convoys of peasants came to Moscow in order to take away from the villages everything that had been thrown along the devastated Moscow houses and streets. The Cossacks took away what they could to their headquarters; the owners of the houses took away everything that they found in other houses and transferred it to themselves under the pretext that it was their property.
But after the first robbers came others, third ones, and robbery every day, as the number of robbers increased, became more and more difficult and took on more definite forms.
The French found Moscow, although empty, but with all the forms of an organically correct city, with its various branches of trade, crafts, luxury, government, and religion. These forms were lifeless, but they still existed. There were rows, shops, shops, storehouses, bazaars - most with goods; there were factories, craft establishments; there were palaces, rich houses filled with luxury items; there were hospitals, prisons, offices, churches, cathedrals. The longer the French remained, the more these forms of urban life were destroyed, and in the end everything merged into one indivisible, lifeless field of robbery.
The robbery of the French, the more it continued, the more it destroyed the wealth of Moscow and the strength of the robbers. The robbery of the Russians, from which the occupation of the capital by the Russians began, the longer it lasted, the more participants it had, the faster it restored the wealth of Moscow and right life cities.
In addition to the robbers, the most diverse people, attracted - some by curiosity, some by duty, some by calculation - homeowners, clergy, high and low officials, merchants, artisans, peasants - from different sides, like blood to the heart - rushed to Moscow.
A week later, the peasants, who came with empty carts in order to take away things, were stopped by the authorities and forced to take the dead bodies out of the city. Other peasants, having heard about the failure of their comrades, came to the city with bread, oats, hay, knocking down the price of each other to a price lower than the previous one. Artels of carpenters, hoping for expensive earnings, entered Moscow every day, and new ones were cut down from all sides, burnt houses were repaired. Merchants in booths opened trade. Taverns and inns were set up in burnt houses. The clergy resumed service in many unburned churches. Donors brought looted church items. Officials arranged their cloth tables and filing cabinets in small rooms. The higher authorities and the police ordered the distribution of the good left after the French. The owners of those houses in which a lot of things brought from other houses were left complained about the injustice of bringing all things to the Faceted Chamber; others insisted that the French from different houses brought things to one place, and therefore it is unfair to give the owner of the house those things that were found from him. They scolded the police; bribed her; they wrote ten times the estimates for burnt state things; required assistance. Count Rostopchin wrote his proclamations.
At the end of January, Pierre arrived in Moscow and settled in the surviving wing. He went to Count Rostopchin, to some of his acquaintances who had returned to Moscow, and was going to go to Petersburg on the third day. Everyone celebrated the victory; everything was seething with life in the devastated and reviving capital. Everyone was glad to Pierre; everyone wanted to see him, and everyone asked him about what he had seen. Pierre felt especially friendly towards all the people he met; but involuntarily now he kept himself on guard with all people, so as not to bind himself in any way. He answered all the questions that were put to him, whether important or the most insignificant, with the same vagueness; Did they ask him where he would live? will it be built? when he is going to Petersburg and will he undertake to bring a box? - he answered: yes, maybe, I think, etc.
He heard about the Rostovs that they were in Kostroma, and the thought of Natasha rarely came to him. If she came, it was only as a pleasant memory of the past. He felt himself not only free from the conditions of life, but also from this feeling, which, as it seemed to him, he had deliberately put on himself.
On the third day of his arrival in Moscow, he learned from the Drubetskys that Princess Marya was in Moscow. death, suffering, last days Prince Andrei often occupied Pierre and now came to his mind with new vivacity. Having learned at dinner that Princess Marya was in Moscow and living in her unburned house on Vzdvizhenka, he went to her that same evening.
On his way to Princess Marya, Pierre kept thinking about Prince Andrei, about his friendship with him, about various meetings with him, and especially about the last one in Borodino.
“Did he really die in that evil mood in which he was then? Was not the explanation of life revealed to him before death? thought Pierre. He remembered Karataev, his death, and involuntarily began to compare these two people, so different and at the same time so similar in love, which he had for both, and because both lived and both died.
In the most serious mood, Pierre drove up to the house of the old prince. This house survived. Traces of destruction were visible in it, but the character of the house was the same. The old waiter who met Pierre with a stern face, as if wanting to make the guest feel that the absence of the prince did not disturb the order of the house, said that the princess was deigned to go to her rooms and was received on Sundays.
- Report; maybe they will," said Pierre.
- I'm listening, - answered the waiter, - please go to the portrait room.
A few minutes later, a waiter and Dessalles came out to Pierre. Dessalles, on behalf of the princess, told Pierre that she was very glad to see him and asked, if he would excuse her for her impudence, to go upstairs to her rooms.