Executive Director of the Russian Club In Taiwan, Julia Startchenko, in the past years led the disabled children with Downs syndrome to overcome difficulties to become players of synchronized swimming. She helped these children to find confidence and passion. Today (the 17th) she led 37 disabled children and their parents as well as Sergey PETROV, Representative of the Office in Taipei for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation(MTC), to visit the Taichung City Government. The delegation was greeted by Deputy Mayor Linghu who promised to give support for training in different cities to show the encouragement for the disabled players as well as to continuously deepen exchanges in sports and culture between Taiwan and Russia.
According to Deputy Mayor Linghu, on behalf of Ma Ma Mayor, Lu Shiow-Yen, today, he welcomed the Executive Director of the Russian Club In Taiwan, Julia Startchenko, who came from Russia and got married in Taiwan. Ms. Startchenko set up the "Synchronized Swimming Association of Taiwan" to actively promote synchronized swimming and for a long time, she assisted the disabled kids to learn synchronized swimming. Her kids demonstrated outstanding performance in international contests and she helped them build confidence. The Russian Club has been an important channel for Taichung to link up with the world and the delegation was welcomed to Taichung for continuous exchanges between Taiwan and Russia.
Sergey PETROV, Representative of the MTC, pointed out that he would like to thank the support and care by the Taichung Government for his Russian fellow countrymen. Although the Russian population in Taichung is small, yet they are all very active. Julia and the Russian Club's efforts have promoted the interaction of Russian and local residents and helped the exchanges of Taiwan and Russia in education, tourism, culture, and arts. He also said that last year the number of tourists visiting the two countries has doubled. To continuously promote tourism and travel between the two sides, starting from next year, when entering Russia, visitors with a Taiwan passport will be eligible for the use of an electronic entry visa.
Executive Director of the Russia, Julia Startchenko, was a former member of the synchronized swimming of the USSR and two decades ago, she married a Taiwanese and began promoting synchronized swimming sports. In 2000, she and her husband set up the " Synchronized Swimming Association of Taiwan." Over the past many years, she trained disabled children with down’s syndrome, autism and visual impairment to overcome difficulties to become members of the synchronized swimming teams. "Every kid is different and special," said Julia and sports, culture, friendship, and happiness unite us. Nothing can be compared to the laughter of happiness.
Today's delegation consists of 37 members including Sergey PETROV, Representative of the MTC, Executive Director of the Russian Club, Julia Startchenko, the disabled children, and their parents. They were greeted by Deputy Mayor Bruce Linghu, Deputy Director General of Sports Bureau, Cheng Lung-Wei, Deputy Director General of Social Affairs Bureau, Chen Kun-Huang, Secretary General of Education Bureau, Wang Shu-Yi, and Special Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Chen Su-Chiou from the Taichung City Government.