Water sports to prevent burnout

My name is Alexander Fedyunin, I am Product Lead of the team of the online store “Sportmaster” 3.0. In my free time I enjoy water sports: wakeboarding and diving. And today I would like to share my experience in mastering these sports, funny incidents and advice for beginners.

How I came to my passions

You could say that I am a water person. My first acquaintance with big water happened at the age of one year, when my parents brought me to the sea, to Crimea, where my grandparents lived. And so, over time, I learned to swim tolerably. At the age of 10–11, I joined the sports swimming section and reached the first adult category. But in high school, my swimming career stalled due to two factors: I was preparing for college and my wonderful coach moved to another city.

Nevertheless, in one form or another, I continued to look for myself in the water element. I tried to ride a banana and surf. I still think that surfing is a very cool thing, with which you can catch the feeling of flying over the water, especially when you have already learned to control the wind. But in my case, this hobby did not result in anything – I live in Lipetsk, and we have very few opportunities to surf.

Then I decided to try wakeboarding, but it didn’t work out: I understood absolutely nothing, although the sensations were interesting. And he quickly abandoned it.

A few years later, we built a good wake center, and I decided to shake off the old days and try to get on a wakeboard again, especially since it was a 20-minute drive from home. In terms of physical activity, it was incredibly difficult at first, but then, when the technique had developed a little, I again caught the feeling of flying over the water. Slowly I started doing simple exercises and figures, then moved on to the ring, trying trampolines and sliders. I didn’t get to serious jumps then – the covid year came.

Then I also became interested in diving. Knowing about my water hobbies, my brother persuaded me to try scuba diving for a long time. I usually brushed it off because I thought that if I was going to dive, it would be somewhere in the Caribbean, but here we don’t have much to see.

Two years ago I finally decided to try diving in Gelendzhik as a tourist attraction. I liked the format, when instructors show you basic techniques so that you don’t swim away and panic, they lead you by the hand underwater to interesting places, pull you out and take you back to change clothes. And it so happened that for several years in a row we went on vacation to the same place, and every time I visited this base. It had locations of varying difficulty levels. I learned a little and received an amateur diving certificate that allows me to go down to 3.5 meters. More serious training that complies with GOST standards failed for me.

I also tried aquajet, which is also a cool thing. The only thing is that you still need to be a little prepared and know what water is and how to handle it. If you are more of a beginner in the water, I recommend trying it together with an instructor: he will hold you, and you will figure out the balance on your own and understand the mechanics. Mistakes will inevitably happen, and they usually end with either falling into the water or diving into something you don’t really want to go. Therefore, you need to be quite experienced and not be afraid to fill your nose and ears. In general, this is a separate type of very interesting entertainment.

Of the three sports, wakeboarding was the hardest for me. A sense of balance is important on it, and in general the mechanics of this action are seemingly one, but in reality they are different. It seems that the rope you are holding on to is a life preserver, you can hang on it and hold on. But until I realized that it is needed to simply drag you forward, and you have to do everything else yourself exactly as the instructor says, until you feel how it all works, it was difficult.

At first, all the muscles hurt very much, it felt like you were being beaten with sticks. If you skate for 15 minutes, and for a beginner this is a lot, you are simply exhausted, because it’s as if in order not to fall anywhere, you need to strain every muscle. In fact, it is enough to understand the basic laws of physics that apply to wakeboarding in order to start relaxing and enjoying the process.

About the season

Usually I don’t open the wakeboarding season until the beginning of May, when the water temperature reaches 14-15 degrees. For those who are just starting out, I would recommend getting out on the water later, because… at this stage you often fall and get up, the air blows on you, and you can freeze. The official end of the season is in October, but I finish around September.

Unfortunately, last season I only rode a wakeboard two or three times. The active phase was in pre-Covid times, when I worked out three to four times a week. That is, it’s definitely a weekend, and usually both. And after work I could stop by for an hour or two or during my lunch break for 20-30 minutes.

Dangers and injuries

I consider diving to be the most dangerous hobby of the three. The main thing, especially at first, is to listen to the instructions exactly, repeat and remember. I was usually lucky with the instructors: they sensitively looked after their students and helped to extinguish the panic that arose.

In order for the dive to go without incident, it is important to carefully monitor the current, the state of the sea and equipment, how much oxygen is left, who is around you, who you are paired with. I didn’t have any injuries as such: I was bitten by a fish once and cut myself a little on a shell. One day I dived deep, was very cold, and then I realized that I needed to wear not a nice short wetsuit, but a long and thick one. In diving, the cost of error is higher, so care is required.

There are fewer fatal risks on a wakeboard, but we must remember that the water is actually hard. Let me give you an analogy: in snowboarding there is such a thing as “catching an edge” – when you catch the edge of the snow, you flip over and hit the snow. You can flip over on a wakeboard in a similar way – here it's called “catching a mop.” I caught her several times too. Therefore, it is important to follow safety precautions and wear a helmet and vest.

In general, you can get injured anywhere. When you start learning a sport, you are afraid of doing something wrong, you are cautious, and at this stage there are minimal injuries. When something works out, it begins to seem like you are the master of water, and this is the most traumatic moment.

My injuries occurred at a time when I had learned some basic elements and began to rest on the board rather than straining to try not to fall. I twisted my leg, fell and hit my head hard, but there were no serious stories.

Where to ride?

I wrote above about the Lipetsk wake park and, frankly, I don’t see much point in going anywhere else. People come to our club from both St. Petersburg and Moscow, confirming that it is great.

The main advantage for me is the party. It reminds me of the House of Pioneers – everyone knows each other, the cleaning lady can threaten you with a rag so that you don’t walk on what has been washed, and treat you to a pie. It’s the same here: everyone gets to know each other, shares news, cheers for each other. Even seasoned wolves who do triple somersaults watch you try to jump onto the slider for the first time and fall off it, come up and explain how you can do it better. People communicate about wake and many others.

The club has a cafe, a bathhouse, and exercise equipment, both ordinary and specific, that help train balance. There are houses – you can come from another city and live for weeks. Festivals and camps for children are organized. Sometimes I just go there to have lunch and chat, without even riding.

The atmosphere of the club in general and the instructors in particular are very friendly. There is no “you pay the money, then I’ll talk to you” attitude. When I had a series of regular visits, I naturally paid for the instructor. But if you just come to ride for fun, they will tell you everything. Newcomers who just come to the club adapt quickly enough and feel like they belong.

There is another good club located on the lake near Foros towards Sevastopol. I went there, but due to lack of time I wasn’t able to go for a ride. Therefore, I promised myself to definitely come back and try as soon as the opportunity arises. There are several winches, a ring and excellent nature around: mountains, vineyards, etc.

If we talk about diving, I have only dived in the Russian south. I liked it most at the diving base in Gelendzhik. There, not far from the shore, there is a specially equipped area that is suitable for beginners. They also take you on a boat out to the open sea, where you can explore the grottoes. It was there that I received my diving certificate to 16.2 meters.

Stories and funny cases

What I remember most vividly was my first ski jump on a wakeboard. At first, the instructor explained for a long time how to approach it correctly, and I tried several times. Then, having climbed onto the springboard, I fell from it many times, and the guys from the club began to share various life hacks for overcoming difficulties. In the end, one of the tips worked, and after much torment I was finally able to fly up the ramp, splash down, not fall, and roll on. This incident became a valuable experience and a pleasant memory for me.

If we talk about diving, I got vivid impressions by exploring the Museum of Anchors – an underwater site, or rather a semi-grotto, in which the organizers collected different anchors and decorated the space around with dressed up mannequins. The place is more of a tourist place for mass entertainment, but nevertheless it left pleasant memories.

There were some adventures. One day, my son and I decided to dive with an instructor and explore the through grottoes. The dive plan was discussed on the shore: first we go to the maximum depth, while there is maximum oxygen in the cylinders and no one has yet frozen, we go through the grotto, take a photo for memory, without stopping anywhere, and then at a free pace we move to a simpler grotto , we explore it and head towards an open area where you can just swim.

It was an excellent plan, which we successfully carried out, although the impressions of its implementation were spoiled in the end. The instructor suddenly signaled an urgent ascent – my son and I had run out of oxygen. We started to climb quickly, but the instructor showed that we needed to go even faster. But it couldn’t be done any faster. It felt like we were climbing for an eternity, although in fact we had to overcome no more than 12 meters. Having already found myself above the surface of the water, I realized that I could not breathe, but there was no panic. I was more worried about my son – he ran out of oxygen earlier, and he and the instructor swam out on their last two breaths. But overall everything ended well.

Achievements

In terms of diving, one of my personal highlights came when, on one of the group dives, the instructor allowed me to teach the beginners the basic rules and safety precautions. After my story, he confirmed that everything was so and, making sure that everyone understood, he already added a few subtleties of his own. And of course, our passage through the underground rock: it tickles the nerves incredibly! At the beginning, from an absolutely unlike-anything environment and experience, and then from various thoughts that increase the already hefty dose of adrenaline in the blood.

As for the wake, this is, of course, the small amount of pieces that I managed to master. By the way, just a couple of weeks ago I learned a couple more elements that were new to me. And this state, when you achieve something that we usually see on cool and spectacular videos, is also the result of your achievements.

Regarding future plans. I dream of riding a boat on the open sea. I organized such an event for myself several times, but each time it was canceled: either by the weather, or by a technical malfunction, or by the “mare’s driver” getting sick. It's a shame, but I'm not discouraged. And of course, I want to take part in competitions: there are many amateur categories that would be great to conquer. I am sure that I will succeed; I have positive personal experience for this.

Tips for beginners

For beginners of varying degrees of readiness, I want to give one piece of advice – try it! All these “I can’t do it”, “I don’t have time”, “I’m too old for all this…” have no basis until the contrary is proven. But from experience I can say that if it really warms your soul, then you will find the time and skill and everything else will come. And of course, I will be happy to give any advice or share some of my experience with everyone. And the most important thing, of course, is safety precautions and equipment. Take care of yourself for new achievements and for people close to you.