The project was initiated by Zaporizhzhia athlete and public figure Denys Sylantiev
With the financial support of Metinvest Group and in partnership with Zaporizhstal, a new season of the Children Physical Rehabilitation by Swimming project has started in Zaporizhzhia for children most affected by the war – orphans, internally displaced children and children from military families. The project was initiated by Zaporizhzhia athlete and public figure Denys Sylantiev.
The Children Physical Rehabilitation by Swimming project aims to provide physical, psychological and health rehabilitation to children most affected by the war through swimming. The programme includes rehabilitation and adaptation techniques developed by Denys Sylantiev, a famous swimmer and 2000 Summer Olympic medal winner. Swimming will contribute to the normalization of children’s condition due to motor activity, learning new things, positive emotions, and useful employment.
The swim classes will be free of charge for the programme participants. The project was made possible thanks to the financial support of Metinvest Group, which spent UAH 180 thousand for this purpose.
“The war should not put our children’s lives on pause, because childhood happens only once. And it lies on our power to ensure that children who are currently undergoing unchildish war trials have the opportunity to play sports, develop, communicate with their age mates and receive positive emotions. To help children most affected by the war overcome the effects of psychological trauma, Metinvest Group has once again supported Denys Sylantiev’s project on physical rehabilitation by swimming. I am confident that participation in the project will be useful and interesting for children and will contribute to their further mental and physical development,” – Roman Slobodianiuk, General Director of Metinvest Group’s Zaporizhstal, said.
The effectiveness of the programme’s rehabilitation methods has been confirmed in practice. The first season of the Children Physical Rehabilitation by Swimming project was held in Zaporizhzhia in 2022. As part of the project, 235 children of internally displaced persons with mental trauma attended classes. After the rehabilitation, the children not only learned different swimming styles but also felt an improvement in their mental state.
The first training for children is from Olympic medalist Denys Silantiev
“Every Ukrainian child is traumatised by the war, and this can have a negative impact on their lives and development in the future. To support children who have lost their families or homes, we continue to implement the programme of physical rehabilitation by swimming. It will help participants aged 8 to 16 to distract from the terrible experience of the war through physical activity and socialise, and in addition, learn to swim,” – Denys Sylantiev, the Olympic swimming medal winner and public figure, said.
The new stage of the Children Physical Rehabilitation by Swimming project started on November 3, 2023, at a sports centre in Zaporizhzhia. It is expected that at least 150 children of internally displaced persons, children from military families and children who lost their relatives in the war will attend the classes in three months. The programme will be coached by Serhiy Proniaiev, a distinguished swimming coach of Ukraine. The swim classes will be held in compliance with all safety standards, including the bomb shelter of the sports centre during air raid alerts.
Participants of the new season of the project “Physical rehabilitation of children through swimming”