Natalya Fedorova was appointed acting head coach of the Russian national sailing team at «Academy of Sailing». Natalia Fedorova will be in charge of administering the athletes' preparations for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Due to the proximity of the Olympics, which will begin in 7 months, and a difficult financial situation due to the economic crisis, the Sailing Federation decided to postpone the competition for the position of head coach until the end of the Olympic competition.
«No cardinal changes can be made in the system of preparation of sportsmen for the main start of the four years, besides, the economic situation in the country is difficult and we have the limited financial resources. Based on the above, the coaching staff's main task at the moment is to properly administer the preparation of athletes for the Olympics. Based on this, the advisory council made a decision that the national team will be headed by acting head coach» until the end of the Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro - said the president of the All-Russian Sailing Federation Vladimir Silkin.
Natalia Fedorova has extensive experience in managing sailing projects. She is the main organizer of the annual international regatta on match races «Sails of White Nights - Cup of the Palace of Congresses», which in 2008 was recognized by COMAGO VFS as the most dynamic sailing competition in Russia. In 2013, Natalia Fedorova led the Sailing Academy in St. Petersburg, which was established from «from scratch» and in just a few years became one of the leading training centres for young athletes. In 2015, the Sailing Academy won the «Yachtsman of the Year award» in the category «Best Children's Sailing School».
Natalia Fedorova joined sailing in 1997. She is a repeat winner and prize winner of various regattas both in Russia and abroad. She has sailed many times and crossed more than 15,000 nautical miles. She is a Yachtmaster (Russia), internationally qualified Yachtmaster Offshore and a 1st category sailing judge, sailing assistant.
Acting head coach was appointed after the departure of Andrei Startsev, who left his post in mid-December for health reasons. After the resignation of the head coach, the management of the national team was transferred to the Expert Council, which consisted of Vladimir Silkin, president of the All-Russian Sailing Federation, Oleg Ilyin, general secretary of VSPF, Ekaterina Skudina, Natalia Fedorova, member of the Presidium, supervising Olympics, and Anastasia Chernova, senior coach of the Russian youth team.
