On August 21, the founder of the inclusive museum “In Silence” Maria Aizina took part in the intercontinental swim across the Bosphorus, an annual open water swimming competition, which since 1989 has been open to everyone, including people with disabilities and amateur swimmers with an average level of training, organized by the Turkish Olympic Committee.
The founder of the inclusive museum “In Silence” conquered the Bosphorus
Maria completed the 6.5 km distance in 1 hour and 15 minutes and placed 316 out of 800 women participants. Thus, she not only met the 2 hours allotted for conquering the strait, but also showed a result above the average one and a half hours for most participants. For comparison, Turkish swimmer Doğukan Ulaç won the men's heat this year with a time of 48 minutes 13 seconds, while Burku Naz Narin from Turkey won the women's heat with a time of 48 minutes and 14 seconds.
In total, the competitions in Istanbul brought together 2.8 thousand athletes, including 1.5 foreign ones. Russia was represented by 350 people. According to Maria Aizina, the cost of a ticket to participate in an intercontinental swim reaches 800 euros, but even in this case it is difficult to get a slot. For each country – quota. This year, the slot sale lasted 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Registration opened abruptly at midnight on the fourth of January, and miraculously managed to
buy a ticket.
“To swim across the Bosporus was my long-standing desire. I have been swimming since the age of 12 as an amateur, regularly swimming in a pool of two kilometers. Six years ago I began to dream big. In 2020, during a trip to Istanbul, I saw this legendary strait for the first time, and even then I thought that I would definitely swim across it, — says Maria. It's interesting that Maria decided to make her first swim in open water of such a serious
level in a swimsuit with the logo of the museum “In Silence”.
“In Silence” – this is the first and so far the only museum in Russia that serves as a guide to the world of deaf and hard of hearing people and helps people with hearing impairments to live a full life. “After the swim, I shed tears of happiness, from the realization that human possibilities are endless. And the possibilities of the museum «In Silence» are limitless. It is the swimsuit of the museum “In Silence” helped me. For me, the swim will be an additional motivation for the development of the project”, — Maria shared her emotions