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Svi su trenirali kajak
Kajak je izuzetno popularan u Borči i već
nekoliko decenija generacije kajakaša
grade lokalnu sportsku tradiciju. Klub BSK,
čije su članice Olivera i Nikolina, radi sa
prekidima od 1972. godine. Pre sestara
Moldovan iz kluba je izrastao Žarko Vekić,
koji se na Olimpijskim igrama u Barseloni
1992. takmičio za Jugoslaviju.
– I naš tata je trenirao kada je bio mlad – s
ponosom kaže Nikolina. – U to vreme
kanal je bio najlepši deo naselja, bio je
povezan s Dunavom, a kajak je svima bio
vid zabave. Gotovo svi muškarci iz Borče
trenirali su kajak u jednom periodu života,
a svi su umeli da veslaju.
e
Everyone practised
kayaking
Kayaking is extremely popular in Borča
and for several decades generations of
kayakers have built up a local sporting
tradition. The BSK Club, which Olivera and
Nikolina belong to, has been operating
with interruptions since 1972. Prior to the
Moldovan sisters, the club also nurtured
Žarko Vekić, who competed for Yugoslavia
at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
- Our dad trained when he was young –
says Nikolina with satisfaction. – Almost
all the men from Borča practiced kayaking
and they were all capable of rowing at
one time in their lives. At that time the
canal was the prettiest part of the com-
munity; it was linked to the Danube and
everyone saw kayaking as kind of fun.
isu znale ni da kajaka-
ški sport postoji dok
slučajno nisu počele
da se bave njime, a da-
nas, četrnaest godina
kasnije, sestre Nikolina i
Olivera Moldovan vicešam-
pionke su sveta. Počelo je
u Borči, skromnom pred-
građu Beograda na levoj
obali Dunava, u kome žive,
a za sve je zaslužno njihovo
društvo iz ulice, koje ih je i
zainteresovalo da upoznaju
privlačnost kajaka.
Nikolina je pobegla sa
časa muzičkog u školi, otišla
do kanala u Borči gde su ka-
jakaši upravo imali trening.
Taj trenutak promenio je
prvo njen, a ubrzo i Oliverin
život.
– Nikada ranije nisam
bila u tom delu Borče i odu-
ševila sam se – priseća se
Nikolina Moldovan. – Sve
mi je izgledalo neverovatno,
bistra voda, mladi koji nose
čamce, veslaju, trkaju se. Na
prvim treninzima u vodi me
je obuzelo to što mogu da
odem daleko, što sam okru-
žena vodom i prirodom. Taj
osećaj me drži i danas.
Samo nekoliko meseci
bilo je dovoljno da Nikolina
shvati da želi ozbiljno da se
posveti kajaku. Nedugo zatim,
roditelji su pomislili da bi bila
dobra ideja da joj se i Olivera
pridruži, i nisu pogrešili.
– Mnogo nam je bilo lak-
še da se snađemo, jer smo uz
sebe imali celo društvo – isti-
če Nikolina, koja u maju puni
25 godina. – Svi smo bili iz
jedne ulice, nas petnaestoro,
može se reći da smo bili kao
čopor. Odrasli smo zajedno,
uvek smo se držali zajedno i
to druženje nas je i povuklo u
ovaj sport.
e
They did not know that
the sport of kayaking existed
until they started training
it, but now, 14 years later,
sisters Nikolina and Olivera
Moldovan are world silver
medallists. It all started in
Borča, a modest Belgrade
suburb on the left bank of
the Danube that they call
home, and they owe every-
thing to the friends from
their street, who first encour-
aged their interest in getting
to know the attractiveness of
the kayak.
Nikolina escaped a mu-
sic lesson in school, went to
the canal in Borča and saw
kayakers training. That mo-
ment first changed her life,
then soon after Olivera’s too.
- I’d never been to that
part of Borča before and
I was delighted – recalls
Nikolina Moldovan. – Ev-
erything looked incredible
to me: clear water, young
people carrying boats,
rowing, racing. At the first
training session in the water
I was overcome by how far I
could go, the fact that I was
surrounded by water and na-
ture. That feeling still holds
me today.
Just a few months was
enough for Nikolina to
realise that she wanted to
devote herself seriously to
kayaking. Not long after-
wards, her parents thought it
would be a good idea for her
sister Olivera to join her, and
they weren’t wrong.
- It was a lot easier for
us to cope because we had
the whole neighbourhood
behind us – notes Nikolina,
who will turn 25 in May. –
We were all from one street,
fifteen of us. You could say
N
