Underwater world of Kazan Universiade volunteers 03.08.2010

It’s the first time Kazan is hosting such a tournament and it’s first time that the volunteer team is mainly made of schoolchildren and only two students. Endje Gaynanova, Law School student of Kazan State University (Volga Region State University), volunteer team leader at the European Underwater Sports Championship shared her view with kazan2013.com about the Universiade future that is real even now.

- Endje, to begin with could you please tell us how did you became a volunteer? Put simply, why are you here in the Olympus swimming pool?
- I was among 150 Kazan volunteers who were sent to the Belrade Universiade. I applied and to my own surprise I was selected to go to the World Student Games in Serbia. Later there were other events: “Russia – Country of Sports” forum, Silk Way Rally, etc. I like to volunteer and perform useful work that’s why I’m here.

- What do the volunteers do at the Championship?
- We are working hard from 9am till late night and leave the venue at 9pm. I spend all my time at the Championship. The other volunteers work in shifts – from morning till noon or from noon till night. But there are some exceptions. One girl slept out for three days: in the daytime she worked at the European Underwater Sports Championship and at night she went to the airport to meet the athletes who arrived to the World Parachuting Championship. I have no idea when she slept. What a volunteer drive she has. As for our duties they are quite simple: eight volunteers work at the springboards – they take the athletes staff after a heat starts, two volunteers work at the doping control centre – they make sure that athletes establishing a world record submit to doping control following their race. Besides there are two photographs working at the Championship. Unfortunately we don’t have info-desk volunteers and volunteer attaches this time.

That’s how we work

- Is it easy to work with schoolchildren? You don’t look like a blackleg.
- And I don’t behave like one, although it’s more difficult to work with schoolchildren. They have a lot of energy and if one manages to channel it into appropriate activity it’s a real pleasure to deal with them.
Besides they are trying their best. For instance a few girls arrived from other Tatarstan towns to volunteer for the European Underwater Sports Championship, they didn’t have any other business in Kazan. Once we were allowed to go swimming in the pool while the athletes were having lunch at the hotel. I think that such decisions are more efficient than shouting and drilling.

- Was there any funny experience with your volunteers at the Championship? After all the tournament is an event for the kids: foreign athletes, special competitive spirit, that feeling when the Russian ensign is hoisted to the national anthem.
- Quite a lot! The volunteers that take the athletes stuff are always soaked to the skin – can you imagine how much water is splashed when a fully kitted diver jumps into the pool. There is another story: a 14-year-old volunteer girl, the youngest in our team, got a crush on a Spanish sportsman and she made up her mind to marry him. Her mother consented. Now the girl is studying Spanish so that to make acquaintance with her future bridegroom.