In Memory of our friend and coach Yuriy

We are all saddened by the loss of Yuriy. Getting together at Galway Arms to share stories about how Yuriy touched our lives was uplifting and seemed a fitting tribute to a man who has had such a powerful influence on so many.

Sharing these stories of Yuriy helped us all laugh a little and put a smile on everyone’s face for a little while. For those who might not have been able to make it to the memorial and as a way to keep these stories and share them forever we’ve created this place on the LPBC blog.

Everyone is encouraged to contribute a story. Just click the comments link at the bottom of this posting to add your thoughts.

The following where supplied to me by Nell and Lev respectively.

“I have proposition for you.” This was a familiar statement heard by all of Yuriy’s students over the years. He always had a plan of some sort, even if was just the workout of the day.
One of the most curious things about Yuriy Kuperman was his ability to draw in every athlete he trained so that each individual followed his direction without a great deal of questioning. You just did as you were told.
Early on in my years of training with Yuriy, he said, “I have proposition for you….you row two, maybe three years with me, you lightweight.” I nodded my head earnestly, but inside I was thinking “Is he crazy? I haven’t been lightweight in several years and I’m not even close!” But from that moment on, I trained, ate and lived in a world devoted to some day becoming lightweight. Earlier this month, I raced as a lightweight. Granted, I have a few pounds of cushion because it’s the winter, so the weight cut off is less severe, but it still counts, right?
From time to time in the summer training months, I would show up at the boathouse in the morning and Yuriy would be attaching a rope to the front of my boat. On the other end of the rope was a tin (aluminium) can, or sometimes just an old water bottle with a small metal weight inside. “Today, you fish” Yuriy would announce to me with a cunning smile. He would send me out with the rope and “ghetto can” attached at the end and I would do the workout with this invention submerged in the water, making me feel like I was dragging a body behind me. It was the strangest concoction I had ever seen and again I thought “what the heck is this doing for me other than making me feel very slow and look ridiculous?” But once you took that can out of the water, you just flew down the lagoon.
This winter, Yuriy started me on a weight training plan. In addition to the weight workouts in the erg room, he instructed me to do “special weights” every night at home. Knowing myself and knowing I couldn’t do anything at home (home = couch potato), I would go to the gym in the evening and do these “special weights.” If you know Yuriy, you know by now that anything he instructed you to do was probably something very few people have seen or heard of before (think: special squats). So, there I would be, every night at the gym, doing the workouts he had instructed, looking like a complete moron. I’m sure people were staring at me with the same incredulous skepticism that we look at people erging at the gym, thinking “what is she doing and how is that helping her?” But I did it, without fail, without question, every night. I ran a marathon recently and I felt pretty good. I think those “special weight” exercises are responsible. The “sitting squat”, the “ballerina” and the “special squats” have all helped my core and quad muscles undeniably.
When Yuriy mentioned the Indoor Erg Race to me this winter I responded “um, no.” At least, that is what I said internally. To Yuriy, I responded “okay.” WHAT? What was I thinking? I hadn’t pulled a 2k in years and in complete honesty, I would rather run a marathon than do a 2k test. End of story. I hadn’t trained for a 2k, I felt that, if anything, I was regressing in my training, and the mere idea of competing indoor at that point made me feel ill. But I did it, and I surprised myself by achieving the goal that Yuriy had set for me.
One of the most memorable “propositions” Yuriy offered me this year was a concoction he made out of dried fruits, nuts and honey. He requested that I bring him these provisions in their individual forms and the next day, he returned them to me in a blended brew and instructed “every morning, you take one spoon before practice.” Ned had also received this crazy creation and said he felt stronger and faster after ingesting the “paste.” I wondered what “special” substance was in this that was going to make me so fast. But, without further questioning, I did, once again as I was instructed to do and ate my mixture every morning before practice, without fail. We will see how I perform on the water this spring…..
These are just a few of the “propositions” Yuriy gave to me over the past few years and even though they sometimes seemed absurd, I never doubted his proposals. Last week, I talked with some of the other scullers and wondered why we never questioned Yuriy? Why did we do everything he told us to do, with trust, respect and conviction? We concluded, after deliberation, that it was because Yuriy believed in us, each of us, as individuals, as rowers, as athletes. He believed in what you could achieve and with his personal plan for you, he made each person feel as though he or she was the most important, most capable athlete out there. He has given us all the confidence to believe in ourselves in the future. I know I would look at the workout some days and think “250 at a 36-38, did he give me the wrong workout? Was this intended for someone else (Nell/Ned – that’s pretty close)?” But I would do it. I could do it. And I will do it, forever, with Yuriy in my mind “I have proposition for you……”

What an honour to have been trained by such an incredible man.

Nell Shuttleworth
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YURIY
The brain does not accept the fact of his death but the Nature is more powerful.

I knew Yuriy for more than forty years. I met him in Kiev. He was coaching the “Avangard” club. Yuriy was born on May 30, 1933. In his childhood and youth he was strong. He started his water sports with kayaks, and then came to sculling, doing both sport together. He was sculling in 50-s of previous century, and was between ten best scullers in the Soviet Union. In the same time, he received his mechanical engineering education, and went to Erevan for work. After returning to Kiev he started to work as an engineer-designer at the chemical plant. Here he organized the rowing club, and started to coach together along with his main job. But coaching took too much time; he loved it, and decided to quit the engineering work. Yuriy became the full time professional rowing coach

He was doing a good job. A Couple of his students took first place on the Ukrainian National Rowing Championships and got top positions on the Soviet Union National Rowing Championships. Because of these results he got the title Honored Coach of Sport of the Ukraine.

First time I brought Yuriy to the club in 1993 during his visiting Chicago. We were working on the club masters four for the Head of the Charles. We went to Boston together, and met a lot of people we were familiar with.

Second time I brought Yuriy to the club twelve years ago after he immigrated to the United States. It was a hard time for him – he didn’t speak English. I helped him. He worked hard, and step-by-step he improved his language, got some experience, found a lot of students, and finally got the stable position in the club. Sometimes our work with him looked like two level system – I started with the student, gave him the base technique and knowledge of rowing, and Yuriy continued to work with him. At the club he fixed equipment, adjusted boats and prepared them to the race, loaded and unloaded the trailer. He was very smart person, good engineer with excellent skills in his hands. Many times he solved the problems with our boat giving us the ability to use them more effectively. Yuriy had a wide field of interests. He was interesting in classical music, art, and literature, and knew them very well. He had a lot of friends and he was very kind to people. His advice to them was always useful. He had warm relationships with all members of our club and was always ready to help.

Yuriy was great husband, father and grandfather. His attention to his wife, relations with son, grandchildren should be good example to any family.

In 1996 Yuriy and me became the first coaches of a new St. Ignatius crew team . The team won its first gold medal in men four in the Midwest Championships Regatta in Indianapolis.

It is hard to count how many students he practiced with during his years at the club. They got a lot of medals on the different competitions – from regional to the international.

Yuriy was always a top level and organized person. He always knew what he had to do, and what results his student has to get. Yuriy worked hard. He always was at the club – from early morning to the late night. And he passed away as an actor at the stage, as the solder at the post – at the club. Yuriy died, but his influence on the club can not be under estimated. Together, we turned the club from a recreational society to a real sport community, which has been recognized on the national and international levels. Yuriy passed away but his soul will always be with us. We always will keep his image in our hearts. And one way to perhaps best honor his memory can be expressed in our new achievements in the sport to which he dedicated his whole life.

LEV Sklyanskiy
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