During a swim training session a few months ago, Ukrainian veteran Oleh Tserkovnyi had an idea: "What if a group of veterans swam across the Bosphorus Strait, between Turkey's European and Asian shores, on Ukraine's Independence Day, 24/8?"

They hoped the event would draw global attention to the losses suffered during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, now in its fourth year.

From left to right: Oleksandr Dashko, Oleh Tserkovnyi, and Pavlo Tovstyk pose at a pool in Kyiv on 12/8, during a break from their cross-continental swim training. Photo: AP

From left to right: Oleksandr Dashko, Oleh Tserkovnyi, and Pavlo Tovstyk pose at a pool in Kyiv on 12/8, during a break from their cross-continental swim training. Photo: AP

Tserkovnyi, 34, shared his idea with fellow veterans in the One for Another support group. No one considered injuries like lost limbs to be obstacles. Two immediately joined him.

They trained for months, supported by the Superhumans Center, a rehabilitation clinic for veterans in Ukraine, and coached by CapitalTRI, an amateur triathlon team in Kyiv.

They agreed the swim would also serve as a fundraiser for prosthetics, expensive equipment needed by many Ukrainian veterans.

"We are not asking for pity," Tserkovnyi said on 24/8. "We just need support."

After months of rigorous training, discipline, and passing fitness tests, the three Ukrainian veterans joined over 2,800 swimmers from 81 countries in the 6.5 km swim from Asia to Europe on 24/8.

The Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race is an open water swimming event held annually in Istanbul and organized by the Turkish Olympic Committee since 1989.

The three completed the swim in just over an hour. Initially, they faced obstacles as organizers tried to prevent the two amputee veterans from competing, arguing they should participate in a separate category for people with disabilities. However, the veterans persevered and completed the race alongside the other athletes.

Pavlo Tovstyk removes his prosthetic leg at a pool in Kyiv on 12/8, while training for the cross-continental swim. Photo: AP

Pavlo Tovstyk removes his prosthetic leg at a pool in Kyiv on 12/8, while training for the cross-continental swim. Photo: AP

For them, the race was not only a testament to their resilience, but also a way to regain control over bodies impaired by war and an opportunity to share their recovery journey with the world.

Sports had always been part of Tserkovnyi's life, but the war and his injuries, including two serious concussions, led him to rely on sports as a survival tool. Sports also transformed his life, connecting him with other disabled veterans.

"Sports are healing, we have experienced it ourselves," he said. "Community pulls you through difficulties, it tempers you."

The war left him with a stutter and involuntary eye twitching. "These are the after-effects. My condition used to be much worse," he said.

Tserkovnyi suffered two concussions on the front lines from a mine blast and a gunshot wound. Afterward, he almost completely lost his balance. "I could walk, but sometimes I would just fall to the ground," he said. "I lost a lot of hearing in one ear and my peripheral vision."

The feeling of being "infirm" drove him to train hard. Tserkovnyi also experienced PTSD, frequently reliving painful memories of the war for an extended period.

But immersed in the pool, he found a way to recognize warning signs. "I began to understand the mechanisms that trigger these symptoms, when they appear, and how to overcome them," he said.

Engineer Pavlo Tovstyk volunteered for military service in the early days of the war in February 2022. He drove for an intelligence unit and hit a mine in June 2023, losing one foot and part of his left leg.

The 47-year-old swam frequently as a child, but never imagined swimming would become his lifeline. He snuck into the pool, hiding it from his doctors, while recovering from his injuries.

"Water became my salvation," he said. "At that time, I was lost with everything. But when I was in the water, my thoughts, my strength, my body, became one, I returned to myself in a different way."

He viewed swimming the Bosphorus as a challenge, a plan to be taken seriously. "To cross the Bosphorus, you need not only physical strength, but also a certain state of mind – a state of determination that we all found within ourselves," he said.

Oleksandr Dashko only became passionate about swimming after losing his left leg. The 28-year-old enlisted early in the war, serving in the infantry on various front lines. In June 2023, a mine exploded near him, shrapnel piercing his knee.

"At first, I couldn't easily accept that fact," he said, recalling the conflicting emotions that tormented him for a long time. Adapting to life with a prosthetic leg was slow and mentally draining.

The three veterans prepare for the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race in Istanbul, Turkey, on 24/8. Photo: AP

The three veterans prepare for the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race in Istanbul, Turkey, on 24/8. Photo: AP

Only last year did he focus on rehabilitation and find peace in swimming. The challenge of swimming the Bosphorus became a life goal for Dashko.

"When I'm not doing anything, I slip back into the state I was in right after the injury: depression, apathy, the feeling that the amputated leg is winning," he said. "But when a challenge like this appears on my path, it's a push that propels me forward, giving me motivation to live."

These physical goals help him stay strong mentally. Dashko hopes for more similar competitions, not just for himself but for other veterans.

"Without this goal, I might have been drunk and lying under some fence," he said.

Hong Hanh (AP)