16:52, 08 сентября 2021, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Yuri KOPYTIN
President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov met today with a Kyrgyz swimmer, master of sports Vladislav Shuliko, who swam across Issyk-Kul lake. Presidential press service reported.
«By your example, you showed how to believe in yourself and go towards your goal, despite any difficulties. No one has ever done this before. The whole country watched this swim tensely,» Sadyr Japarov said.
He stressed that the swim was a gift for the 30th anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s independence. By his act, Vladislav Shuliko sets a good example for the younger generation.
Sadyr Japarov said that he was informed about the difficulties associated with filing an application for inclusion of Vladislav Shuliko’s achievement in the Guinness Book of World Records due to lack of funds. In this regard, 500,000 soms were allocated for Shuliko from the presidential fund.
The swimmer sincerely thanked the head of state for moral and material support. «I set myself such an impossible task, a goal, and I myself had little faith that I would be able to realize it. But, having started the swim, I could no longer stop and promised myself to set a record, since the president himself believed in me, the whole country was waiting and believed in me. We have a very close-knit people,» the athlete stressed, once again expressing gratitude to all Kyrgyzstanis for their support.
Citizen of Kyrgyzstan Vladislav Shuliko swam across Issyk-Kul lake for five and a half days. The master of sports in swimming covered 181 kilometers — a distance equal to 3,600 Olympic swimming pools. The famous Kyrgyz swimmer Akhmed Anarbaev and the head coach of the open water swimming team of the NOC of Kazakhstan Yevgeny Khudyakov questioned his record.