All posts in Kazan 2015

07 Aug

Kazaň 2015: cestujeme domov (we are travelling home)

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 7. august 2015 / 0 Comments

Here it is. Alarm-clock wakes us up at 5.15, we quickly get up, finish our packing and at exactly 6.00 the taxi is waiting for us. After saying goodbye at the reception desk we leave our temporary home, the hotel Armenia.

On our way to the airport we enjoy a concert of some band which the driver watches and listens to while driving :-) This guy is a bit eccentric but he seems cool :-)
We pay 600 RUB for the taxi which is fine and get off right before an airport terminal.

I like the Kazan’s airport. It’s smaller but nice and modern…


A je to tu, budíček o 5,15, rýchlo vstať, dobaliť kufre a presne o 6-tej už čakal dole taxík.
Rozlúčka na recepcii a my opúšťame náš dočasný domov, hotel Armenia.

Cestou na letisko si užívame koncert nejakej skupinky, ktorý šofér pozerá a počúva popri jazde :-) Je to “dizajnovo” :-) zvláštny týpek, ale pohoďák.
600 rubľov za taxík je ok a vystupujeme pred letiskovým terminálom.

Kazaňské letisko sa mi páči, je menšie, ale moderné a pekné.

In all, I’ll have good memories of Kazan. I guess mainly because the majority of the people I met here were nice, easy-going and willing to help. It didn’t matter if it was a receptionist, a volunteer in the Arena, a shop assistant or a taxi driver…

At the airport there were swimmers from RSA waiting at the same gate. We didn’t see Cameron. I guess he wasn’t going home yet :-) Otherwise it would be a great experience for Peter to meet him alive like this :-)

The flight to Moscow passed without any problems. During flight I noticed that people were reading about swimming in newspapers. Those were newspapers from the day before with the article about Yefimova.

Celkovo na Kazaň budem mať spomienky dobré. Asi hlavne preto, že drvivá väčšina ľudí, ktorých som tu stretol, bola milých, usmiatych a ochotných a bolo jedno či to boli recepčné v hoteli, volunteer-i v Aréne, predavači alebo taxikári…

Na letisku pri rovnakom gate čakajú aj plavci z RSA. Camerona ale nevidíme, asi ešte domov nejde :-) Inak to by mal Peťo iný zážitok stretnúť ho takto naživo :-)

Let do Moskvy prebehol bez akýchkoľvek problémov a počas letu si všímam, že ľudia čítajú v novinách o plávaní. Boli to noviny z predchádzajúceho dňa a bol to článok o Jefimovej.

So, at the airport I didn’t hesitate and headed to newsstand. I was wondering if they wrote something about Mozorov and his false start. I wasn’t mistaken…
Na letisku teda neváham a mierim do novinového stánku. Som zvedavý, či v poslednom čísle bude niečo o Morozovovi a jeho predčasnom štarte. A nemýlim sa…

Sheremetyevo is a huge airport. Getting from terminal D to E took us with the stops in the shops about half an hour. I was also hunting for some souvenir for my wife. Eventually, I bought classic Matryoshka but it was quite a problem to find the right color so it would at least a little fit in our house :-)

Another interesting thing is a horizontal escalator. You get on it and it takes you a bit further :-) I already mentioned it in some other report that, in contrast to Kazan, I met mostly reluctant people without interest here which isn’t very pleasant.

Customs office was again a different story. I still don’t know if I really had to import and export my photographic equipment. But I wanted to avoid any possible problems because the price of the equipment is quite high. On our way to Kazan I made a deal with the customs officer. On our way back another custom officer had a big problem to certify my export. He finally did it after I came to him for the third time. I said that I really wanted to have it certified because I already have the import certified and one copy of that went to the board of customs. And in instructions from organizers this was a sheer warning. So, the customs officer handled it in about three seconds, he certified it with a seal and it was done :-)

We were left with few rubles so I invested in bottles of water. Half a liter cost in the hotel 25 RUB, at the airport it cost 100 RUB from a vending machine or 120 from a shop. The time of our departure was slowly approaching and I could already see our plane waiting…

Sheremetjevo je obrovské letisko. Presun medzi terminálmi D a E nám aj so zastávkami v obchodoch trvá asi polhodinu. Zháňam ešte nejaký suvenír pre manželku, nakoniec to vyhrala klasická matrioška, bol ale celkom problém vybrať takú, ktorá by sa farebne aspoň trochu hodila k nám domov :-)

Zaujímavé sú tu horizontálne eskalátory, nasadnete naň a on Vás odvezie o kúsok ďalej :-) Už som sa o tom zmienil v niektorom z predchádzajúcich príspevkov, oproti Kazani sa tu stretávam väčšinou s neochotnými ľuďmi bez záujmu, čo nie je moc príjemné.

Extra kapitolka bola opäť colnica. Neviem, či mi skutočne bolo treba prihlasovať na import a potom na export techniku, čo som mal na fotenie. Chcel som sa ale vyhnúť nejakým možným problémom, keďže jej hodnota bola dosť vysoká. Pri ceste do Kazane sme to nejako s colníkom zvládli. Na spiatočnej ceste mal ale colník neskutočný problém mi export potvrdiť. Urobil to až keď videl, že idem za ním tretíkrát a povedal som mu, že to potvrdené jednoducho mať chcem, lebo mám potvrdený import a viem, že jedna kópia išla niekde na colný úrad. A v pokynoch od organizátora MS bolo na toto výslovné upozornenie. A tak ma teda colník nakoniec asi za 3 sekundy vybavil, buchol mi na potvrdenie pečiatku a bolo hotové :-)

Zostalo nám ešte zopár rubľov, a tak som investoval do fľaší s vodou. Pollitrovka na hoteli 25 rubľov, na letisku 100 v automate alebo 120 v obchode. Pomaly sa blíži čas odletu a už vidím, že lietadlo na nás čaká…

I figured that the lady at the desk misunderstood my request to seat us together by the window. We both sat by the window. :-) I was on one side of the row by the window and Peter on the other side. :-) I didn’t make a big deal out of it. At last I was glad I sat by the window. We usually leave these seats for children.

During the flight I occupied myself with the Aeroflot magazine. I found out that the maximal take of mass of our Airbus A321 was 89t, then I found out where Aeroflot flights and also how to get from Sheremetyevo to centre of Moscow. I might visit it some other time…

Zisťujem, že pani za pultom si moju prosbu, aby nás dala sedieť spolu a pri okne vysvetlila po svojom. Sedíme pri okne obidvaja :-) , ja na jednej strane radu pri jednom a Peťo na druhej strane pri druhom :-) Beriem to ako fakt a neriešim. Nakoniec som počas letu aj rád, že sedím pri okne. Tieto miesta nechávame vždy deťom.

Počas letu sa zabávam študovaním časopisu od Aeroflotu s zisťujem, že náš Airbus A321 má maximalnu vzletovú hmotnosť 89t, zisťujem kde všade Aeroflot lieta a tiež to, ako sa dostať zo Sheremetjeva do centra Moskvy. Možno raz pôjdem pozrieť…

I couldn’t fall asleep. In front of me there sat a group of five young Russians who were talking too loudly in my opinion. It wasn’t anything serious but it wasn’t either a lullaby. Eventually they died away and were going to rest as well.

The weather was perfect and the clouds below us were creating beautiful images.

Zaspať sa mi nedarí, predo mnou sedí skupinka piatich mladých rusov, ktorí sa na môj vkus bavia až príliš hlasno. Nie je to nič kritické, ale zaspať sa mi pri rom nedá. Nakoniec utíchajú ale aj oni a idú si oddýchnuť tiež.

Je krásne počasie a oblaky pod nami vytvárajú krásne obrazy.

I was amusing myself with tracking our location with navigation, too. We really crossed the permitted speed 50km per hour here :-)
Zabávam sa aj sledovaním našej polohy podľa navigácie, tu sme napríklad výrazne prekročili predpísanú 50-tku :-)

We didn’t fly over Slovakia. We entered Czech Republic from Poland circa above Karvina. If I felt it right we started to descend above Terezin.
According to the navigation I was looking for the highway from Brno to Bratislava and it seems like I found it…
Neletíme ponad Slovensko, do ČR z Poľska vchádzame približne nad Karvinou. Ak som to pocítil správne, tak nad Terezínom začíname klesať.
Podľa navigácie pozerám, či uvidím diaľnicu z Brna do Bratislavy a vyzerá to tak, že áno…

Above Austria the plane started to jolt a little bit and I had difficulty to capture the beautiful landscape. Finally I managed to do it. There doesn’t seem to be so much of wind generators from Earth…
Nad Rakúskom to s lietadlom začína trochu pohadzovať a ja mám trochu problém vyfotiť ich peknú krajinu. Nakoniec sa to ale podarilo. Zo zeme sa to nezdá, koľko tých veterných elektrární majú…

At 16.55 of local time we landed. We handled the formalities and were trying to recall where we had left the car. Peter has a very good memory :-) We paid for parking and headed to Bratislava. It was good that I paid the parking beforehand. Via Pelikan it cost 80€ and on the spot it would cost over 160€ :-)

And how was our homecoming? At home there was already waiting our youngest world champion :-)

O 16,55 už miestneho času pristávame. Vybavujeme formality a spomíname si, kde sme nechali auto. Peťo má ale dobrú pamäť :-) Ešte zaplatiť parkovanie a hajde do Bratislavy. Bolo fajn, že som si parking zaplatil vopred. Cez Pelikan stálo 80€, na mieste by som platil cez 160 :-)

A príchod domov?
Doma nás už čakal náš mladší majster sveta :-)

Well, this is all from my travel journal in Kazan. It was amazing and I hope it wasn’t the last event of this kind. We’ll see what will cross my mind :-)

Finally, I would like to thank for help to Viktor Sulc, www.pujcovnafototechniky.cz,  from whom I lent the most important part of my photographic equipment. On the one hand, I want to thank him for his rental services so there is a place to borrow equipment like this for a reasonable price. On the other hand, I appreciate his training and very pleasant and helpful approach.

Next, I want to say thanks to Mato Vano who helped me with my equipment, too. He’s as much of a fan as I am and we sometimes compete with each other which is good for our improvement :-)

The translation of these reports to English would be too much for me. Alzbeta Hyblova was waiting every day and promptly translating them for me. Thanks.

Last but not least I want to thank our swimming federation SPF, of course. They helped me with handling the formalities and I’m thankful that I could be under their patronage on the World Championships. And my thanks belong also to Miro Nowak who was patient with my curious questions :-)

Thank you!

Well… this is the end of broadcasting from Kazan :-)

No a to je z môjho cestovateľského denníčka z Kazane už asi všetko.
Bolo to super a dúfam, že to nebola moja posledná akcia tohto druhu, uvidíme čo mi zase preskočí hlavičkou :-)

Na záver sa chcem poďakovať za pomoc Viktorovi Šulcovi, www.pujcovnafototechniky.cz, od ktorého som mal požičanú najdôležitejšiu časť svojej fotovýbavičky. Jednak za to že svoju požičovňu vôbec má a je teda si kde aj takúto techniku za rozumný peniaz požičať. A tiež za zaškolenie a veľmi príjemný a ústretový prístup.

Ďalej Maťovi Vaňovi, ktorý ma s technikou dovybavil taktiež. Je to podobný fanda ako ja a tak nejako sa navzájom dopĺňame a občas aj jeden druhého predbiehame :-) , čo je pre naše zlepšovanie moc fajn.

Preklad týchto mojich článočkov do angličtiny by som nedal. Každý deň na ne čakala a promptne ich prekladala Alžbetka Hýblová. Ďakujem.

No a nakoniec samozrejme vďaka aj našej plaveckej federácii SPF, ktorá mi pomohla s vybavovačkami a pod ktorej hlavičkou som aj na MS bol. A tiež Mirovi Nowakovi sa trpezlivosť s mojimi všetečnými otázkami :-)

Ďakujem.

No a…
… koniec vysielania z Kazane :-)

07 Aug

Kazaň 2015: posledny deň “misie” (the last day of our “mission”)

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 7. august 2015 / 0 Comments

Wednesday 5th of August 2015 was the last day of our “mission” on World Championships in Kazan…

Today, I went to the Arena all by myself in the morning.
During the breakfast I noticed two girls who looked like swimmers by their figures :-)
When I was asking for a taxi on reception desk the girls probably found out I was heading to the Arena after seeing my accreditation card on my neck. So, we took a taxi together.
They were swimmers and they travelled from Brazil to Kazan to support.
Quite a distance…

The color is important and blue is very good :-)
According to the color on the accreditation card you have access to particular places. It’s simple, quick and effective. There are sections for organizers, for athletes, for referees and for media. Broadcasters are special category, they are quite respected here. That is because they pay for transmission rights.
There is always someone before particular section who controls the access.

Special colors are also for bibs. The standard color was sky blue. I had this bib the whole time. I could stand on reserved places which weren’t bad at all. If a photographer wanted to go on the pool deck he had just to ask for it. For morning session he must have made the request till 3pm and for finals till 9am. These photographers then got dark blue bib. There were always about ten of them.

I planned to go to the pool deck for the last finals. But in the morning I got hold up for a while with Peter in the hotel and the taxi ride took a bit more. I came to the Arena at about 9.20. But I didn’t mind because reserved places were good as well. And this is not the last event there is, isn’t it? :-)

Bibs came also in third color – dark green. These were, for example, for Giorgio Scala, the chief FINA photographer. By the way, he was a very friendly and easy-going Italian…

I can’t help myself not to mention something about taxis… :-)
White line on the road doesn’t mean a thing for these drivers. J And the number of lines on the road is understood as the minimal number of cars that can go side by side on the road. :-)
This is mainly applied to crossroads. If you can fit with your car somewhere it’s almost obligation to jam in there :-)

The most adrenaline ride was the last one to the hotel after the finals. Taxi driver seemed to think that he was on some motor race and he drove through several short-cuts. I was a little bit worried for a moment if we would make it to the hotel.

But let’s talk about swimming…

In newspapers Sport-Express there appeared achievement of Yuliya Efimova.
These newspapers have eight pages and the two thirds of the last one were dedicated to swimming…


Streda 5.8.2015, posledný deň našej “misie” na Majstrovstvách sveta v Kazani…

Do Arény som dnes ráno cestoval sám.
Už na raňajkách som si ale všimol dve dievčinky, prišlo mi, že majú také plavecké postavy :-) Keď som si na recepcii objednával taxík, zistili podľa mojej akreditačnej karty na krku, že zrejme pôjdem do Arény. A tak sme nakoniec išli jedným taxíkom spolu.
Boli to plavkyne a pricestovali fandiť do Kazane z Brazílie.
Dooosť dobrá štreka…

Farba je dôležitá a modrá je dobrá :-)
Podľa farby na akreditačnej karte sa Vám otvárajú dvere na miesta, kde máte prístup. Jednoduché, rýchle, účinné. Organizátori máju svoje zóny, športovci zase svoje, takisto rozhodcovia a médiá. Špeciálna kategória sú broadcasteri, dosť sa to tu okolo nich točí. Oni totiž platia za prenosové práva. Pred príslušnou zónou potom vždy niekto stojí a prístup kontroluje.

Svoju farbu majú ale aj fotovesty. Štandardná bola svetlomodrá (sky blue). Tú som mal celý čas aj ja. Mohol som stáť na vyhradených miestach, ktoré neboli ale vôbec zlé. Ak sa chcel fotograf dostať priamo ku bazénu, bolo treba o to iba požiadať. Do 3-tej hodiny poobede pre doobednú časť a do 9-tej hodiny doobeda pre finále. Títo fotografi potom dostali vestu tmavomodrú. Tých bolo vždy približne 10.

Ja som mal v pláne ísť na “pool deck” na posledné finále. Zdržal som sa ale chvíľu ráno na hoteli s Peťom a takisto akosi dlhšie trvala cesta taxíkom. Prišiel som do Arény asi 9,20. Ale až tak mi to nevadilo, aj vyhradené miesta boli fajn. A toto predsa nie je posledná takáto akcia… :-)

Fotovesty mali ešte aj tretiu farbu – tmavozelenú. Takú nosil napr. aj Giorgio Scala, hlavný FINA fotograf, inak veľmi priateľský a ústretový Talian…

Nedá mi to, musím ešte o tých taxíkoch niečo napísať… :-)
Plná biela čiara tu až tak veľa neznamená :-) A počet jazdných pruhov na ceste je tu chápaný ako minimálny počet áut, ktoré na ceste môžu ísť vedľa seba :-). Platí to hlavne v križovatkách. Ak sa dá niekde vopchať, tak sa tam určite vopchať treba :-)

Naviac posledná, večerná jazda po finále na hotel, bola dosť adrenalínová. Taxikár ju poňal ako preteky a navyše išiel kadejakými skratkami. Trošku som mal aj chvíľami strach, či na hotel vôbec dorazíme :-)

Ale poďme ku plávaniu…

Noviny Sport express a úspech Yuliye Efimovej…
Noviny majú 8 strán a plávaniu boli venované dve tretiny poslednej strany…

IMAG0739

And what interesting things have happened in the Arena today?

First and foremost, Katka Listopadova swam 50m backstroke. She was in the zero line and I didn’t see her well but I took some photos anyway…

A čo zaujímavé sa dnes udialo v Aréne?

No v prvom rade dnes plávala naša Katka Listopadová 50m znak. Bola v dráhe 0 a nemal som na ňu moc dobrý výhľad, niečo som ale aj tak nafotil…

We saw a duel between Adam Peaty and Cameron van der Burgh on 50m breaststroke. That preceded yesterday’s semifinals where these two guys fought together over world record :-)
It was an impressive battle. Peaty won.
Whom did you support? Should I give happy or sad emoticon? :-) :-(
Videli sme súboj Adama Peatyho a Camerona van der Burgh na 50m prsia. Tomuto finále predchádzali včerajšie semifinále, v ktorom sa chalani pretláčali v svetových rekordoch :-)
Bol to pekný súboj. Vyhral to Peaty.
Komu ste fandili Vy? Dám veselý alebo smutný smajlík? :-) :-(

We saw a false start of Morozov in semifinals of 100m freestyle, too. It was obvious and if he wasn’t disqualified I would have been very disappointed. Not that I have anything against him but the rules should apply to everyone…
Videli sme aj predčasný odskok Morozova v semifinále 100m voľný spôsob. Bol úplne očividný a keby nebol diskvalifikovaný, tak by som bol veľmi sklamaný. Nie preto, že by som proti nemu niečo mal, ale ak pravidlá majú platiť, tak majú platiť…

We also saw happy Sun Yang after his victory on 800m freestyle. He ran around the pool to his fans :-) I didn’t catch that with my camera or I could have but I didn’t have good position. I couldn’t see it from my spot.

But when he repeated it after handing out of medals I caught it :-)

Videli sme tiež šťastného Sun Yanga po jeho výhre na 800m voľný spôsob. Rozbehol sa okolo bazéna ku svojim fanúšikom :-) To som nafotiť nestihol, teda vlastne nebol problém s tým, že by som nestihol, ale nemal som na to dobrú pozíciu. Z môjho miesta to nebolo vidieť.

Keď to ale urobil znova po odovzdávaní medailí, tak to už mám :-)

Another interesting thing was a swim-off of Roberto Pavoni and Conor Dwyer to determine who will get to the finals of 200m medley. I guess it’s pretty unusual for two swimmers to have the same time and at the same time to be in semifinals on 8th place :-)
No a zaujímavý bol tiež aj rozstrel medzi Roberom Pavonim a Conorom Dwyerom o postup do finále 200m polohový pretek. Asi dosť neobvyklé, aby mali dvaja plavci na stotinu rovnaký čas a súčasne aby bolo v semifinále na 8.-mom mieste :-)

Then I just glanced at the Arena for the last time, visited the press centre and headed to the hotel.
We had a dinner and packed up our things. At six in the morning we leave from hotel and fly to Moscow and in the afternoon to Vienna.

By the way, I didn’t think I had such bald head :-)

Have a nice evening…

No a potom už len záverečný pohľad na Arénu, posledná návšteva presscentra a hajde na hotel.
Na večeru a pobaliť sa na cestu. Ráno o 6-tej odchádzame z hotela a odlietame do Moskvy. Poobede potom do Viedne.

Inak ani som nevedel, že mám takú plešinu :-)

Pekný večer…

 

05 Aug

Kazaň 2015: konečne naplno (finally full steam ahead)

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 5. august 2015 / 0 Comments

Today’s morning was quite chilly but despite of that it has started very well.

Dnešné ráno bolo dosť chladné, no deň napriek tomu začal super.

First discipline in the morning was 50m breaststroke and the world record was already beaten. That was managed by Cameron van der Burgh.
Arena roared.

Cameron is very popular even without setting new world records.
You can always hear it when he comes to the hall…

Prvá dnešná disciplína, 50m prsia a hneď svetový rekord. Postaral sa oň Cameron van der Burgh.
Aréna burácala.

Cameron je dosť populárny aj bez toho, aby zaplával svetový rekord.
V hale to vždy počuť, keď prichádza…

Marek Botik, Katka Listopadova and Riso Nagy have swum their disciplines today.
Photos of Marek are especially good, I dare to say :-)
Svoje disciplíny plávali dnes aj Marek Botík, Katka Listopadová a Rišo Nagy.
Hlavne fotky Mareka mi, myslím, celkom vyšli :-)

Just out of curiosity, when the announcer speaks about Riso he pronounces his name “Ritchrd Nagy” :-) Cool, right?
Len pre zaujímavosť, keď hlásateľ hovorí niečo o Rišovi, tak ho volá “Ričrd Nagy” :-) Pekné, že?

And other interesting thing is that swimming is now very popular in Russia. This photo is from Arena shop near Kazan’s Arena… :-)
A ešte jedna zaujímavosť – plávanie je v Rusku teraz veľmi populárne – foto je z obchodu Arena neďaleko Kazaň Arény… :-)

In the morning, on our ride to morning session we took a taxi and the car was Ford Focus. Since I have the same car we talked a bit.
In Kazan, there are ten thousand taxis driving. This information I have verified from different taxi drivers.
Driving taxis is on daily basis here, much more than in Slovakia. People take taxis to get to work, too.
And this is how it looks before Arena in the evening after the finals, for example…
Ešte ráno, cestou na doobednú časť, sme sa viezli taxíkom, no a bol to Ford Focus. Keďže rovnaké auto mám aj ja, prehodili sme zopár slov.
V Kazani jazdí 10 tisíc taxíkov. Toto mám overené od viacerých taxikárov.
Jazdenie taxíkom je tu na bežnom poriadku omnoho viac ako u nás. Na taxíkoch jazdia ľudia aj do práce.
A takto to vyzerá napríklad pred Arénou večer po finále…

One Euro is approximately 70 RUB.
One liter of gasoline costs 33 RUB (less than 50 cents), cheap isn’t it? But I was told that average salary is 22000 RUB (314 €). Ehm, that’s not so good.

By the way, tickets to morning session cost 300 RUB (4,30 €) and to finals 800 RUB (11,40 €). In comparison with Berlin it’s alright.

Again out of curiosity, one kilo of bananas at the market costs 55 RUB (0,80 €), melon costs 20 RUB (0,30 €), beer can cost 100 RUB and vodka (0,5 l) from 400 RUB to 600 RUB for better one.

Ticket for city transport is 20 RUB, doesn’t matter if it is bus, trolley bus, tram or underground.
And a dinner for two can cost about 1500 RUB with drinks.

Jedno euro je približne 70 rubľov.
Liter benzínu stojí 33 rubľov (menej ako 50 centov), dobrá cena, že?
Ale priemerný plat je tu vraj 22000 rubľov (314€), hm, to už také pozitívne nie je.

Inak vstupenky na doobednú časť stoja 300 RUB (4,30€) a na finále 800 RUB (11,40€). Oproti Berlínu pohodička.

Len pre zaujímavosť kilo banánov na tržnici 55 RUB (0,80€),melón 20 RUB / kg (0,30€), pivo okolo 100 RUB a vodka začina niekde okolo 400 RUB za 0,5l a lepšia okolo 600 RUB.

Lístok na mestskú dopravu, či je to autobus, trolejbus, električka alebo metro 20 RUB.
No a večera pre dvoch ľudí okolo 1500 RUB aj s nápojmi úplne v pohode.

It’ unbelievable but we actually managed to see today’s finals from the very beginning. :-) And it was worth it.

It’s amazing to see the emotions of winners or swimmers who swam world record from a short distance. With the support of the spectators you can’t hear a word and you get chills all over your body.

In the afternoon Adam Peaty beat Cameron’s morning record on 50m breaststroke and Katie Ledecky swam new world record on 1500m freestyle. But the biggest moment of the day according to the support and cheering of the audience was performance of Yuliya Efimova on 100m breaststroke. Even though she didn’t set new world record, that still belongs to Rute, but she won the gold medal and the reaction from the audience was really worth it…

Je to neuveriteľné, ale dnešné finále sme stihli úplne od začiatku :-) A stálo za to.

Je úžasné vidieť zblízka emócie víťazov alebo plavcov, ktorí zaplávali svetový rekord. A keď je to podporené ešte aj publikom, a to tak, že nepočuť slova, behajú z toho zimomriavky po chrbte.

Dnes poobede prebil Adam Peaty doobedňajší Cameronov rekord na 50m prsia a Katie Ledecky zaplávala nový rekord na 1500m voľný spôsob. No asi najväčším vrcholom dňa podľa sily podpory publika bolo vystúpenie Yuliye Efimovej na 100m prsia. Nezaplávala síce svetový rekord, ten patrí stále Rute, vyhrala ale zlato a tá reakcia z hľadiska stála naozaj za to…

By the way, you know how I thought that I knew all about taxis and in the morning I managed to get a taxi to the hotel for so far the best price 75 RUB. That didn’t work well for me in the evening. The taxi for us was waiting on the other side of four-way road but we didn’t know about it. After 15 minutes of waiting (it should have been just 2) volunteer, who called the taxi for us, came to tell us that we are on the wrong side and we should cross the road. We didn’t find the taxi on the other side so I lost my patience and we paid 300 RUB for different taxi :-)

Good night. We can’t wait till tomorrow…

Ako som si inak myslel, že už mám taxíky v malíčku a utvrdilo ma v tom aj to, že doobeda sme išli na hotel za doposiaľ rekordných 75 rubľov, tak večer som dostal zase na frak. Privolaný taxík stál na druhej strane 4-prúdovej cesty, o čom sme my nevedeli. Keď nám po 15-tich minútach čakania (mali to byť pôvodne minúty dve) volunteer, ktorý nám ho privolal, prišiel povedať, že máme prejsť podchodom na druhú stranu a na druhej strane sme ho nenašli, tak už ma došla trpezlivosť a išli sme za 300 :-)

Dobrú noc a tešíme sa na zajtra…

04 Aug

Kazaň 2015: dnes bolo všelijako (today, it has happened this and that)

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 4. august 2015 / 0 Comments

Yes, today it has been this and that. At first in the morning the taxi driver dropped us on the other side of the Arena as we were used to. No problem but it was a little bit further and the entrance security check was stricter. I’m already used to explaining two times a day that my backpacks won’t make it through X-ray checks but here they wanted to unpack them completely… Considering that yesterday they wanted to try besides functionality of phone, camera and flash also if my umbrella was functional it was not that crazy :-)

Today it has started with 100m backstroke women and men. So, I took a risk and I picked different spot, on the other side of the pool. Of course, it was higher and above spectators. The bee-line distance between me and starting blocks could have been about 80m. I wanted to try to take a photo of backstroke start when a swimmer bends backwards. Katka took off and this is a result. I still have to work on my skills…


Áno, áno, dnes bolo naozaj všelijako. Najskôr nás pán taxikár ráno vysadil na opačnej strane Arény, než sme boli doteraz zvyknutí. Žiadny problém, len to bolo trošku ďalej a bola tam prísnejšia vstupná bezpečnostná kontrola. Už som si zvykol, že 2x denne vysvetľujem, že moje batôžky skrátka pod rontgen nepôjdu, tu ich chceli ale aj kompletne vybaliť… Ale zase včera chceli okrem skúšky funkčnosti mobilu, foťáka a blesku vyskúšať aj či mi funguje dáždnik :-)

Dnes sa deň začínal znakom 100m ženy aj muži. Tak som to riskol a “nainštaloval” sa na druhú stranu bazéna, než sa štartuje. Samozrejme ale vyššie a za divákmi. Od štartu to mohlo byť vzdušnou čiarou možno aj 80m. Chcel som skúsiť urobiť foto zo znakového štartu, keď sa plavec prehupne dozadu. Katka vyštartovala a tu je výsledok, ešte musím na sebe popracovať…

Yesterday, we (me and Peter) had decided that we wanted to see Kazan as well. So, today we have given up women’s 1500m freestyle and before the beginning of these heats we left the Arena and went to the city. We saw beautiful Kremlin and I found out that it is actually a mosque. During our absence in Arena there didn’t happen anything more than one new World record :-) Katie Ledecky broke it on “sacrificed” 1500m freestyle.
Včera sme si s Peťom povedali, že by sme chceli vidieť aj niečo z Kazane, a tak sme dnes “obetovali” disciplínu 1500m voľný spôsob ženy a pred jej začiatkom sme z Arény odišli a išli do mesta. Videli sme krásny Kremeľ a ja som zistil, že ono je to vlastne mešita. V Aréne sa neudialo počas našej neprítomnosti nič väčšie než jeden svetový rekord :-) Zaplávala ho práve na tých obetovaných 1500m Katie Ledecky.

During our trip to the city I finally understood how to get a taxi not just from the hotel. There is this system that when you order a taxi by calling you get information – when it will come, what type of car it will be. Phone number on taxi company Tatarstan is everywhere to find. It probably works well but the problem is that if you are calling from different phone number than Russian one you are out of luck. You can’t get a taxi with this number. So, when a foreigner needs a taxi it must be called by some native, for example a volunteer on World Championships. We have tried it after today’s finals and it really works this way.

We haven’t caught today’s finals, too :-) There is an hour’s time shift between here and Slovakia and on my computer I still have the Slovakian time. So, I was calm until I realized that we weren’t going to the Arena an hour before the start of the finals but that it had already started. For that reason we didn’t see how Cameron van den Burgh missed the first place by seven hundredth of a second on 100m breaststroke and we also missed second World record of the day. It was broke by Sarah Sjostrom on 100m butterfly. Well, very clever of us… :-(

But we did see handing out of four medals on 50m butterfly and I really liked when the guys came before photographers to pose. They weren’t bigheaded or anything at all.

Počas výletu do mesta som konečne pochopil, ako si zohnať taxík aj inde, než z hotela. Ono tu majú totiž taký systém, že telefonicky si človek objedná taxík a dostane informáciu za koľko minút príde a aké auto to bude. Číslo na taxislužbu Tatarstan nájdete snáď všade a ono to možno aj fajn funguje, problém je jedine v tom, že ak voláte z iného ako ruského čísla, tak máte smolu. Na takéto číslo taxík nedostanete. Keď teda “inostránec” taxík potrebuje, tak ho musí zavolať nejaký domáci, napr. volunteer na MS. Vyskúšali sme si to po dnešnom finále a ono to naozaj funguje.

Dnešné finále sme nestihli zase :-) Je tu o hodinu viac ako na Slovensku a na počítačí čas nemám zmenený. A tak som si bol veselo v tom, koľko máme času, než som zistil, že nejdeme do Arény o hodinu skôr, ale že už vlastne finále začalo. A tak sme nevideli ako Cameronovi van der Burgh ušlo zlato o 7 stotín na 100m prsia a tiež sme nevideli druhý dnešný svetový rekord. Bola to Sarah Sjostrom na 100m motýlik. No čo už, šikovní sme :-(

Videli sme ale odovzdávanie štyroch medailí na 50m motýlik a bolo to moc fajn, keď prišli chalani pózovať pred fotografov. Neboli to žiadne nafúkané bubliny.

Following discipline was 200m medley and Katinka Hosszu with new World record. At least we saw one new record and it was worth it. I can’t put the sound into the article but this is how it looked…
Potom prišla 200m polohovka, Katinka Hosszu a jej nový svetový rekord. Takže jeden sme dnes predsa len dnes videli a stál za to. Neviem do tohto článku vložiť zvuk, ale obraz bol takýto…
DSC_11679 DSC_11779 DSC_11982 DSC_12053 DSC_12063

At last there was the awarding ceremony and end of finals. In the end, Laszlo Cseh came to pose before photographers but I had my equipment already packed and didn’t want to unpack it again. But he seemed like a nice guy…

After we returned to the hotel we went to have a dinner, again to the hotel’s restaurant, again the pasta. We order pasta with chicken or with seafood over again and for me also spicy pasta :-) So far, we enjoy the meal.

That’s it for today’s news.
Wait till tomorrow for upcoming news.

Stay with us! :-)

Vyhlasovanie víťazov a koniec dnešného finále. Na záver dobehol pred fotografov už len Laszlo Cseh a pózoval… Ja už som bol ale zbalený a nechcelo sa mi znovu všetko vyberať. Je to ale sympoš…

Po návrate na hotel sme sa vybrali na večeru. Znova do reštiky nášho hotela a znova na cestoviny. Striedame dokola cestoviny s kuracím mäsom, s morskými plodmi a ja ešte pikantné :-) A celkom nám zatiaľ chutia…

Toľko dnešný spravodajský blok.
Ďalšie zaujímavé informácie sa dozviete zajtra.

Zostaňte s nami! :-)

03 Aug

Kazaň 2015: prvý deň naostro (the first day for real)

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 3. august 2015 / 0 Comments

Waking up, eating breakfast, quick packing of baggage, calling the taxi and heading to work… :-)

An interesting thing is that in the morning taxi costs 140 to 170 rubles and in the evening much more. Today after the finals it went up to 800 :-) The same route with one slight difference – in the evening we don’t take the taxi through hotel.

In the morning I wanted to change Peter’s e-tickets for cute real ones but I shouldn’t have done that. Eventually I managed to do it but it took about 20 minutes :-)


Ráno budíček, raňajky, rýchlo pobaliť bagáž, zavolať taxík a do práce… :-)

Inak je zaujímavé, že ráno stojí taxík 140-170 rubľov a poobede vždy viac, dnes po skončení finále boli aj takí, ktorí si dokázali zapýtať aj 800 :-) Tá istá trasa, akurát jediný rozdiel – poobede si taxík neberieme cez hotel.

Chcel som ráno ešte Peťovi vymeniť e-tickety za pekné, poriadne lístky, ale to som nemal robiť. Nakoniec sa to síce podarilo, ale trvalo to asi 20 minút :-)

In the Arena, I rushed to the press centre, unpacked my largest piece of equipment (lens) and left the case in the locker, put on my bib and went straight to the pool.

When I look back I see that I picked a very good spot. Near the start but not in the same level, a bit further, right behind FINA photographers where I could watch these professionals and catch some useful tricks from them. They were really good :-) I was especially interested in shots under water but also in their methods and technique.

V Aréne rýchlo do press centra, vybaliť najväčší kornútok (objektív) a odložiť obal do skrinky, obliecť vestičku a šup na pľac.

Ked to tak spätne hodnotím, vôbec som si nevybral zlé miesto. Pri štarte, ale nie v jednej úrovni, ale o kúsok ďalej, priamo za FINA fotografmi – mohol som odkukávať aj ich grify. Dobre im to išlo :-) Zaujímavé boli hlavne zábery spod vody, ale aj celkovo ich spôsob práce.

Three of our swimmers have swum today – Katka Listopadova, Riso Nagy and Tomas Klobucnik. I took some photos of them… It’s a shame they didn’t make it further but it wasn’t their last chance…
Dnes plávali traja naši plavci – Katka Listopadová, Rišo Nagy a Tomáš Klobučník. Tak som ich trošku pofotil…Škoda len, že sa nedostali ďalej, ale veď ešte bude šanca…

Today we could also see some well-known swimmers so there was a lot to admire.

After the end of the morning session we went quickly back to the hotel. Peter went to the gym and I sat to the computer. It takes a while to adjust a photo…

We didn’t catch the beginning of the afternoon session, I was just finishing work on photos of our swimmers. Even though I tried I didn’t manage it in time. I posted them on web in the evening :-) We didn’t see Sarah Sjostrom breaking World record in 100m butterfly, we just “heard”… Because when something happens, the whole Arena roars. It’s not just usual noise but real uproar. Naturally it occurs mainly when a home swimmer is in the pool. The noise reached maximum in the evening in the finals of men’s freestyle 4x100m relay when home swimmers were beaten by France. It seemed like if it lasted a little bit longer the Arena might have fallen. I know, I exaggerate a bit :-)

Plávali dnes aj zvučné svetové plavecké mená, takže pozerať bolo stále čo.

Po skončení doobednej časti sme sa rýchlo vrátili na hotel, Peťo si dal posilňovňu a ja som sa posadil za počítač. Ono to chvíľu trvá, kým sa fotka upraví…

Začiatok poobedia sme nestihli, finišoval som foto našich plavcov. Aj tak som to nestihol a išli na web až večer, ale snažil som sa :-) Svetový rekord na 100m motýlik Sarah Sjostrom sme nevideli, iba “počuli”… Keď sa niečo totiž deje, tak celá Aréna buráca. Nie len tak buráca, ale buráca naozaj. Pochopiteľne hlavne vtedy, keď je vo vode nejaký domáci plavec alebo plavkyňa. Vrchol bol dnes vo finále štafety 4x 100m voľný spôsob muži, keď domácich plavcov nakoniec zdolali francúzi, ale ešte chvíľu a Aréna by snáď možno aj spadla. Hej, hej, trochu preháňam :-)

Such lovely girls were handing out the medals…
Takéto páradne dievčatá odovzdávali medaile…

What else happened today?
I can’t think of anything, or I could but I’m too tired to think…

Good night :-)

No a čo ešte z dneška?
Už ma nič nenapadá, teda vlastne aj by napadlo, ale už sa mi žiada zaľahnúť do postele.

Dobrú noc :-)

 

01 Aug

Kazaň 2015: deň pred začiatkom (the day before the start)

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 1. august 2015 / 0 Comments

Today, it has happened a lot…

Half an hour after midnight we left nighttime Vienna successfully with Aeroflot Company just to land on one of the runways of Moscow airport Sheremetyevo more than two hours later. For an hour I kept one customs officer busy while importing my photographic equipment into Russia. I still think we made a good deal :-)
But I won’t know for sure until leaving Russia.

Waiting for international flight to Kazan felt like waiting on a bus station in Slovakia. People everywhere you look, rush, flights alternating as on a treadmill, people lying on seats curled up around their baggage, in better case around their relatives :-)


Dnes sa toho udialo celkom dosť…

Polhodinu po polnoci sme so strýčkom Aeroflotom úspešne opustili nočnú Viedeň, aby sme po trochu viac ako dvoch hodinách pristáli na jednej z dráh moskovského letiska Šeremetjevo. Asi hodinu som zamestnával colníka, keď som na import do Ruska prihlasoval svoju techniku na fotenie. Ešte stále si myslím, že sme sa nakoniec dohovorili :-)
To sa ale ukáže až keď budeme Rusko opúšťať…

Pri čakaní na vnútroštátny let do Kazane, som si pripadal ako na slovenskej autobusovej stanici. Všade kopec ľudí, zhon, lety sa gate-och sa striedali ako na bežiiacom páse a ľudia spali na sedadlách skrútení okolo svojej batožiny, v lepšom prípade okolo svojich príbuzných :-)

Eventually we flew to Kazan for about an hour with smaller but newer type of airplane Sukhoi Superjet. I don’t remember much from this flight, I tried to sleep but it didn’t quite work because there was compulsory refreshment :-) Aeroflot was very hospitable.

When we were getting off the plane and handling formalities we could feel, opposite to Moscow, that we were in a city where World Championships is taking place.

Nakoniec sme sa ale dočkali a ďalšiu zhruba hodinku sme leteli do Kazane síce menším, ale zato omnoho novším strojom typu Suchoi Superjet. Z tohto letu si moc nepamätám, pokúšal som sa spať, úplne mi to ale nevyšlo, bolo sa treba povinne napiť a najesť :-) Aeroflot bol pohostinný.

V Kazani už pri vystupovaní z lietadla a ďalej aj pri postupnom vybavovaní formalít bolo na rozdiel od Moskvy cítiť, že sme v meste, v ktorom sa konajú MS.

The feeling got even stronger when we saw friendly and easy-going people welcoming participants of World Championships. We ended up in bus for participants heading to their accommodation. There were only two of us and three Chinese people. During the ride every few meters we could see advertisement for World Championships, from small posters to huge billboards.

When our fellow passengers got off the bus I brushed up my knowledge of Russian language. The result, besides good chat, was short city tour just for the two of us. Thanks, Kazan is a beautiful city :-)

Tento môj pozitívny pocit zavŕšili usmievaví a vtipní ľudia vítajúci účastníkov MS. Skončili sme v autobuse rozvážajúcom účastníkov MS na ubytovanie. Autobus bol zaplnený nami dvoma a ešte ďalšími troma číňanmi. Počas cesty sme mali možnosť vidieť každú chvíľu pri ceste reklamy na MS, od malých plôch až po veľké bilboardy.

Keď vystúpili naši spolucestujúci, oprášil som svoju ruštinu a výsledkom okrem družnej debaty bola aj zrýchlená prehliadka mesta špeciálne pre naše 2-členné publikum. Ďakujeme, Kazaň je pekné mesto :-)

Check in and hurry to the Arena…
Right before the entrance, there was a security check.
Ubytovať sa a hajde do Arény…
Hneď pred vstupom bezpečnostná prehliadka…

Inside I headed straight to accreditation centre to pick up my long-awaited accreditation card :-)
From there I had access to all doors with media sign. With courage I went to press centre and photographers room. I had to find out where a photographer like me could move :-)

I got my first bib and it seemed like it was all I could have done for the day :-)

Za vstupom už ale len priama cesta do akreditačného centra po svoju vysnívanú akreditačnú kartičku :-)
Odtiaľ už s otvorenými dverami všade, kde je napísané Média, rezko a smelo do press centra a do photographer’s room. Bolo treba zistiť a pochopiť, kde sa fotograf ako ja, môže na MS pohybovať :-)

Dostal som svoju prvú fotovestu a mohlo by sa zdať, že týmto by sa môj dnešný deň mohol aj skončiť :-)

It was also necessary to learn what to do the next day so I stayed in Arena for a while. I took part in compulsory photographers briefing. Again I tried to find out everything necessary. I wasn’t successful this time either so I requested personal briefing :-)

We’ll see tomorrow if it was worth it.
At least a photo from Arena for today…

Bolo ale treba ešte zistiť, ako to zajtra bude, a tak som sa po Aréne trochu pomotal. Nasledoval povinný Photographers briefing. Opäť som sa snažil zistiť to, čo som potreboval. Nepodarilo sa úplne ani tentokrát, a tak som si vyžiadal individuálnu inštruktáž :-)

No a zajtra uvidíme, či padla na úrodnú pôdu.
Dnes zatiaľ aspoň foto, ako v Aréne vyzeralo…

And small bonus to end with… :-)
A malý bonus na záver… :-)

 

31 Júl

Kazaň 2015: od sna k skutočnosti (from dream to reality)…

In Kazan 2015,Worlds by Peter Sukenik / 31. júl 2015 / 1 Comment

The idea to try to get to World Championships in Kazan as a photographer stroke my mind during European Swimming Championships in August 2014. In the hallway of the Berlin Velodrom there was already an eye-catching poster advertising competition in Kazan.

Nápad skúsiť sa dostať ako fotograf na Majstrovstvá sveta do Kazane, som dostal počas ME v Berlíne, v auguste 2014. Na chodbe berlínskeho Velodromu bol už vtedy pútač, ktorý robil Kazani reklamu.

It was just an idea. At that time I would have estimated the probability that it might eventually happen at 10%.
In January 2015 I asked for accreditation and in April I got one.

Wow!!! :-)

Bola to len taká myšlienka a pravdepodobnosť, že by to nakoniec aj vyšlo, by som vtedy odhadol asi tak na 10%. Ale povedal som si, že to skúsim…
V januári 2015 som požiadal o akreditáciu a v apríli som ju dostal.
Wau!!! :-)

I decided if it should really happen that I would take my older son Peter with me. He is also a swimmer and I believe that seeing World Championships live will be a great experience for him and also further motivation.

Buying plane tickets, finding and booking accommodation, ensuring tickets for Peter, arranging the visa, ordering new photographic equipment, reading up on everything necessary… There was a lot to do and even today few hours before leaving I still have the feeling that I have forgotten something or missed something.

But I already have photographic equipment ready at home and I am very happy with it. I hope I will use it for some photos :-)

Rozhodol som sa, že ak to teda naozaj má vyjsť, tak zoberiem so sebou aj svojho staršieho syna, Peťa. Je tiež plavec a verím, že vidieť MS naživo bude pre neho zážitok a aj ďalšia motivácia.

Kúpiť letenky, nájsť a objednať ubytovanie, zabezpečiť pre Peťa vstupenky, vybaviť víza, objednať si ďalšiu foto techniku, naštudovať si všetko, čo bolo treba… Tých vecí nebolo málo a ešte aj dnes, pár hodín pred odchodom, mám stále obavy, že som na niečo zabudol alebo niečo prehliadol.

Mám už ale doma nachystanú foto výbavičku a z nej sa naozaj teším.
Dúfam, že zopár fotiek s ňou aj urobím :-)

This evening we’re leaving to Bratislava and then Vienna. At midnight we’re flying first to Moscow then to Kazan.

I think I won’t believe that this is really happening until I am standing with my camera in Kazan arena…

Keep your fingers crossed :-)

Dnes poobede odchádzame smer Bratislava a potom Viedeň. O polnoci letíme najskôr do Moskvy a potom do Kazane.

Myslím, že tomu naozaj uverím, až keď budem stáť s foťákom v kazanskej Aréne…

Držte palce :-)

 

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