Dear participants, good afternoon! Legendary Swim's official position on the end of the event in Sviatohirsk and the "conflict situation" that arose around the award, as well as the work of the site legendaryswim.com
“We launched the Legendary Swim project to give people the opportunity to swim in fantastic places, travel, enjoy sports and build a great community around swimming. The event in Svyatogorsk was to take place in holy places and give people the energy and joy of getting to know the eastern region of Ukraine. We made great efforts to prepare it, including one of the most picturesque distances according to the participants, and the most dangerous in our opinion. We held the event thanks to the idea and with the great support of Pasya Team member Slava Babakov. Unfortunately, the fair remark of the members of this team led to a conflict at the award ceremony.
In fact, the main reasons for this conflict are several:
- Inaccurate data of participants from the previous site legendaryswim.com
- The human factor
Consider each:
1. Previous site and transition period
The work of our previous site caused problems at each award, because its functionality allowed: 1) to register several participants from one account, 2) to register without entering critical personal data of participants (age and gender). A lot of participants used it, and as a result we received a large array of inaccurate information with data.
Launching a new site has completely solved the problems that lead to the entry of inaccurate data. However, most participants registered in Sviatohirsk earlier, and their data were either missing or incorrect. Such participants, we moved to the category of 50+ and gave them the status of "DISQUALIFICATION" to attract their attention. We were aware that the first launch on a new platform with this logic with incorrect data would lead to problems, but we did not realize the scale. It was the consequences of our hasty actions, without checking each of the participants by hand, that led to the failure of the award and further conflict.
As early as 03:00 18/07 the participants' data were updated and a protocol with updated information was provided (except for the 50+ category): https://legendaryswim.com/en/events/svyatohirsk-2021/legend/results
2. The human factor
We continued to collect data on the last day before the start, and some were corrected manually after the finish of the participants. These two days also saw the main organizational workload. Errors were also made in the timing protocols, so we decided not to take it into account, because checking the correctness of the data in the two databases was an impossible task for such a period of time.
Given that the category of 50+ participants included all those who did not update the data, we postpone the awarding of this category until the list is cleared of errors. Unfortunately, Victoria Lukash, the winner of the 4.7km swim among women aged 20-29, also fell into this category. Victoria, as if updated the data the day before the start, which we allowed. However, her data were not saved for reasons unknown to us. Later, we manually entered the date of her birth after the finish of all participants. Unfortunately, such a late change did not affect the list of winners, and we did not pay attention to the award ceremony itself. Then came the conflict that you witnessed.
We apologize to all participants, because it was our actions that disrupted the award. Separately, we would like to apologize to the entire Pasya team and Anna Pasichnyk, who have publicly expressed their disagreement with our actions. And although many participants may have disagreed with the form of such a protest, it was our behavior that caused it. In this case, we just want to thank you, because Anni's actions were a signal for us to stop rewarding on the basis of inaccurate data. We also want to apologize to Viktoria Lukash, who did not get on the well-deserved pedestal, and to other participants who won their place on it.
So far, we have developed a list of actions that completely eliminates problems with age categories in the future, and to some extent compensates for the discomfort during the awarding:
- We are absolutely confident in the work of the site, which correctly captures and displays data. Its functionality in the near future will include the overall ranking of participants by league points and the rating of clubs.
- Registration will end earlier. The start protocol with the generated start numbers will be available 2 days before the start. Also 2 days before the start, any changes with the participants' data will be impossible, including transferring the slot to other participants, or changing the distance.
- Only participants are responsible for the correctness of personal data. When registering at the event, we will check the actual age of the participants. Participants who provide inaccurate information will be allowed to start but without chips, ie will be disqualified.
- Regarding wetsuits, we will bring our requirements to the requirements of FINA, with the exception of temperature thresholds. Participants will be able to start in wet pants and shorts when wetsuits are prohibited. Unfortunately, we will have to disqualify such participants in Sviatohirsk. Disqualification status will be entered by 25/07.
- In the near future we will announce the holding of 2 award ceremonies: in Kyiv and Kharkiv, where we will award the winners of Swim Fest and Svyatogorsk in age categories. Participants who are unable to attend will receive the medals by mail at our expense.
We would like to thank all the participants for your visit and ask for one thing. Life throws up enough problems and conflicts. We have something to worry about, quarrels and negativity. Let's gather at the start for the sake of friendship and development. We have much more in common than it may seem.
Sincerely yours,
Legendary Swim