Ukrainian veterans triumph over war injuries in Bosphorus swim
ISTANBUL
During a pool training session months ago, Ukrainian war veteran Oleh Tserkovnyi was struck by an idea: What if a group of veterans swam across the strait of Bosphorus, between Türkiye’s European and Asian shores? And if they did it on Aug. 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day?
The symbolism of the day would draw attention to the toll and devastation inflicted by Russia’s full-out war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
When the 34-year-old pitched the idea to fellow veterans in their support group. Two joined him right away.
They trained for months with a veterans’ rehabilitation clinic and an amateur triathlon team in Kiev, and agreed to raise money for prosthetics, which remain costly and urgently needed by many of Ukraine’s wounded. After months of rigorous training, discipline and physical challenges, the three Ukrainian veterans on Aug. 24 joined more than 2,800 swimmers from 81 countries in the 6.5-kilometer crossing from Asia to Europe.
The Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim race is an open-water event held each year in Istanbul, organized by the Turkish Olympic Committee since 1989.
All three Ukrainians completed the crossing, each swimming for more than an hour.
For the Ukrainians, it wasn’t just about endurance but about reclaiming control over bodies transformed by war — and sharing their recovery with a world that often seems indifferent to the injuries they carry.
Sports had always been a part of Tserkovnyi’s life, but war and injury pushed him to use it as a survival tool after two severe, life-changing concussions.
“Sport itself heals — we’ve seen that firsthand,” he said. “And the community, it pulls you through. It pushes you, it disciplines you.” The sense of being “a sick person,” he said, felt so foreign to him that he threw himself into recover. For a long time, he also had PTSD symptoms, including dramatic flashbacks to the war. But it was in the pool that he found a way to recognize the warning signs. “I began to understand what triggers them, when they come, and how to stay ahead of them,” he said.
Engineer Pavlo Tovstyk stepped on a landmine in June 2023. The blast took his foot and subsequent surgeries led to a partial amputation of his left leg. The idea to swim the strait in Türkiye started almost as a dare, then became a plan.
“To cross the Bosphorus, you need not just physical strength, but a certain mindset,” he said.
Oleksandr Dashko discovered swimming only after losing his left leg. In June 2023, a mine exploded near him and shrapnel tore into his knee. It was only over the past year that he was able to focus on physical rehabilitation. The challenge of swimming the Bosphorus became a purpose for Dashko.
“When I do nothing, I slip back to that state right after the injury — depression, apathy, the feeling that the amputation is winning. When something like this shows up on my path, it gives me a jolt to live, to move forward, to motivate others.”
Russian swimmer missing
After the race concluded, authorities reported that Russian swimmer Nikolai Svechnikov went missing, prompting an extensive search by police and the Coast Guard.
Authorities said the 29-year-old had arrived in Istanbul on Aug. 23 and checked into a hotel in Beyoğlu before the race. Search operations continued on Aug. 25.
