From laymen to professionals. Regardless of the level of initiation, new initiatives, trips and competitions await sailing fans at the University. In May, thanks to the cooperation between the Centre for Physical Education and Sport and the Yacht Club in Rewa, recreational sailing trips for the academic community of our University will be organised. From June we invite you to sailing trips around the Great Mazurian Lakes. Sailing classes in physical education and the marina of the University of Gdańsk are also planned.
Last year, Aleksandra Melzacka (left) went with UG graduate Kinga Loboda (right) to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The tradition of sailing at the University of Gdańsk dates back to the beginnings of our institution. It was back then that the first recreational trips to the Masurian Lakes were organised. Our University can also boast of many successes in this discipline. It's rare that we don't come back from the Polish Academic Championships with a gold or silver medal. Our University is also the alma mater of many eminent sailors, such as Maciej Grabowski, who represented Poland at three Olympic Games, and Aleksandra Melzacka and Magdalena Kwaśna - the Tokyo 2020 Olympians. Our University has also produced some outstanding ice sailors - the youngest world champion in iceboats, Michał Burczyński, and Sara Piasecka, the gold medallist at the European Championships.
Magdalena Kwaśna - student at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Olympian at the Tokyo 2020 Games, photo by Robert Hajduk PŻŻ
Currently, sailing at the University of Gdańsk operates in three forms: sport, recreation and didactic. - 'The first category is developed within the AZS section. Our main goal is to compete in the Polish Academic Championship. For those interested in recreational sailing we offer sailing trips around the Great Mazurian Lakes,' - says dr Jan Patok, the Director of CWFiS. - 'We also run physical education classes in sailing for students from the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography. Young researchers learn appropriate behaviour on water and acquire skills that will be useful in their future careers.'
Sailing trips on the Great Mazurian Lakes
Thanks to the cooperation established between the Centre for Physical Education and Sport at the University of Gdańsk and the Yacht Club in Rewa, a new sailing programme is now available to our academic community. It will be a series of five or six Saturday meetings. The first of these will take place in May this year. The classes are designed for the more experienced as well as the complete layman.
You will be able to sign up for the trip after publishing an announcement with details on the student portal or by contacting the leader, mgr Robert Budnik, directly. - 'If interest is high, we will also consider preparing sailing classes with physical education in Rewa,' - announces dr Jan Patok.
However, plans for UG sailing go much further than new physical education classes. - 'We are also considering the possibility of building a University of Gdańsk marina in Górki Wschodnie. We have already started preliminary works of a working team that aims at developing a concept and finding funds for adapting our facility at ul. Ornitologów to serve as a sailing and water sports centre of the University of Gdańsk,' - says mgr Tomasz Aftański, Deputy Director for Sports at CWFiS.
Meanwhile, in May our section will fight for medals in not one, but two events - the Polish Academic Championships in Wilkasy and the Pomeranian Academic Championships in Rewa. In the same month, recreational trips to Rewa will begin. In June, we invite you to take part in the action 'Sailing trips around Great Masurian Lakes', i.e. sailing training and camps to be held in Węgorzewo.
- 'The new initiatives strengthen the long tradition of our University as a "sailing" university,' - concluded dr Jan Patok.