“Do what you love, love your loved ones”
Today we will talk with a very cool athlete from Ukraine who has many titles, conducts his training camps and is engaged in various kinds of extreme sports.
Meet Roman Makarenkov, was born in 1989 and lives in Chernomorsk, Odessa region, Ukraine. In the winter he moves to warm countries, Egypt and Thailand to engage in extreme sports.
Roman was engaged in such sports as: Skateboarding for 5 years; Have been windsurfing for 8 years; Kiteboarding for 11 years and still doing this. Wakeboarding for 7 years and still continues. He also was doing surfing, break dance, roller skating and cycling. He prefers wakeboarding and kiteboarding and is very closely engaged in this.
There are quite a few achievements in sports, the main ones are:
- 1st place 2012 Black Sea Cup in kite freestyle;
- World champion according to IWWF in the Masters category;
- 3rd place in the championship of Ukraine after 8 years 2020;
- He has participated in more than 50 wakeboard competitions and won prizes;
- 3rd place at the 2015 World Championship in Phuket, Thailand;
- 3x Ukrainian wakeskate champion according to IWWF;
- Multiple vice-champion of Ukraine in wakeboard;
- Winner and medalist of the Ukrainian Cup stages from 2013-2020 in cities: Kiev, Odessa, Poltava, Kharkov, Dnipro, Lvov, Vinnitsa and others.
But great achievements do not stop him and the has plans to go in for paragliding, skydiving, improve his skills on snowboarding and surfing.
You can get training from Roman in Wake and kite. He teaches not only in Ukraine but also in Thailand, Turkey and Egypt.
Roman told us about his camps.
On camps in Turkey, Thailand and Egypt, they ride, train and have a good time. Camping is not limited to wake only, but also trips to beaches, excursions in the area, etc. But first of all, of course, the goal of the camp for the week is the maximum progress on the wake. People always leave the camp happy with an arsenal of new tricks. The duration of the camp is usually from 7 days to 14 days. Wake training 2 times a day, skiing, flight, meals, accommodation all inclusive! The average cost is $ 1000 for everything. It is advisable to have your own personal equipment, since this is the main guarantee of progress, to ride what is convenient, but if you are a beginner, then rental equipment will come off. Usually guys from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia come to the camps.
But do not be discouraged, the training takes place in two languages, Russian and English. Roman has already raised tough guys who have achieved success in kiteboarding. He taught the Thai guys freestyle, they are now doing great in competitions in Asia. He also prepares athletes in wake, the guys take prizes in competitions in Ukraine.
So if you are planning to vacation in Egypt, Thailand or Turkey and learn cool tricks on a wakeboard or kiteboard, you can contact to Roman and sign up for a camping. Wake camp is for both beginners and advanced riders. You can sign up by contacting to Roman in social networks
or by calling +380638352107. You can find information about camps on his social page. Networks, they are regularly posted on Instagram and Facebook. Usually wake camps abroad are held in autumn, winter and spring. In the summer Roman trains in Odessa and travels around Ukraine with trainings.
We managed to get a rather interesting interview with Roman and we learned a lot of interesting things, we advise you to read it.
What was the main impetus for playing sports and when did it happen?
-Probably it all started seriously with skateboarding and windsurfing, these are the directions that I chose myself and not where my parents took me. The attempts of my parents to send me to the section were unsuccessful.
When was the first competition?
– My first competition was in windsurfing, these are ordinary distance races, at that moment I was still a beginner and rode on a big old board and could not win due to lack of experience and equipment, but I tried to go the distance and finish the race to the end and not retreat even in spite of the lack of wind and other conditions.
Who was the mentor who influenced the development?
-I want to say a huge thank you to my first windsurfing coach and mentor Belinsky Georgy Antonovich, this man taught me not only to ride but also not to give up in difficult life situations. Dmitry Massalov for supporting me at the beginning of Wake’s career. I didn’t have any trainers on the kite, which is a pity, YouTube did its own thing.
As far as we know, you ride under the auspices of brands such as Slingshot and Mystic, tell us a little about that.
-Yes, I ride for these brands and the Windrider kite club, which is their distributor in Ukraine. In 2015, there was an extreme sports festival in «Azure Crazy Day», there were wake competitions, I took first place in them and my kite colleague and teammate Alexey Bozhko noticed me. Since then I have been skating for the Windrider club, which in every possible way helps me develop and stimulates me to progress in wakeboarding. Without sponsorship, it is difficult to motivate yourself to participate in competitions, since this is a completely different level of riding and the equipment quickly fails.
What is your main goal?
-My main goal is to do what I love, to raise my son, to support my family. Help people develop in sports, and develop in it themselves. I want to participate in the World Cup again, looking forward to the next opportunity in 2021.
Tell about most incredible event in your everyday or sports life.
-Probably my first victory in a kite competition in 2012, this event gave a strong impetus to my development as an athlete. The birth of our son Jan and the emergence of our family.
What is the most difficult for you (action, perhaps not only from the field of sports?
-Now I have a difficult relationship in my family and I want to improve it, now it is the primary goal and complexity
-We sincerely wish everything to work out and best of luck for your family.
You practice many sports such as wake, kite, snowboard, skate and surf. Tell us if there are similar items. How similar are they to each other and in what sports (some examples) can honing a trick in one sport help in another?
-Yes, of course, of the above, the most technically difficult is a skateboard, from which the names and the tricks themselves Wake, snowboard, wakeskate are borrowed. The kite borrows the names and the tricks themselves from the wake in the Anhook freestyle discipline. In surfing, there are few borrowed tricks, only the names of rotation and sides of rotation, grabs, of course, you can twist the board under you like on a skateboard, but few people do this on surf, the idea of surfing is different.
Give a couple of tips on choosing equipment, please.
-The choice of equipment for the most part depends on the weight of the person, then on the height and on the direction of skiing. Wake boards differ in stiffness, rocker, length, width, channels, etc. Depending on your preferences in wakeboard, we choose a rigid board for a boat with channels on the bottom and keels, for sliding through pipes a softer board without keels and channels, for fans of flat tricks and springboards, a poker board of medium hardness with a harder middle. Now manufacturers are making more or less universal boards that combine a hard middle for confident splashdowns, soft edges for sliding. There are also boards with raised edges for street riding on dangerous obstacles. It is important for me to try the board on the water, or at least hold and wrinkle it in my hands, then I can understand whether it suits me or not.
What recommendations can you give for novice athletes?
-Do not give up, go gradually towards your goal, do not stop there. The main thing is wisely and carefully, especially if you are over 30.
How do you relax from sports?
-From sports I rest at night in bed probably))) or on the beach. It happens a couple of months off-season in the fall when I am resting but I continue to keep fit in the gym. I really love the sun, water and warmth. The cold is not mine.
One Comment
I would like to join such a camp. Learning and relaxing at the same time is very cool. Good post!!!!