On the waves of Lim, and in the eighth decade

Even though he is in his eighth decade of life, Miroslav Mirko Stanić, a native of Bielsko-Biała, is old, and neither is the icy weather that he has been experiencing in recent days. the shackled north is no obstacle for him to travel a kilometer on the waves of Lim almost every day in his canoe.

This year, too, Stanić accompanied the Epiphany regatta from Bijelo Polje to the Kumanica monastery, about 15 kilometers away, on a kayak.

This seventy-five-year-old proved that he is a successful athlete for whom sport is a lifestyle, not just a struggle to achieve top results.

Neither the Military Academy, his master's studies at the High Military Political School in Belgrade, nor his profession as a village teacher and then a JNA officer, were ever a reason for him to give up this sport.

The love for canoes began in the fifties of the last century, when thousands of logs floated through Lima for the needs of the railway, from which young Bjepolojians would make rafts and sail to Kumanica.

He saw a kayak for the first time in his life when he was 12 years old.

Six decades have passed since then and he never stopped playing this sport, which he later infected his family with.

The first kayak arrived in Bijelo Polje in 1951 from the furniture factory "Marko Radović" from Podgorica.

But since no one knew who it was addressed to, it "lay" in a basement for two years.

"Several Bielopolians Šabo Šabanović, Pero Bučkić and others attended high school in Podgorica and socialized with people from the factory, where the carpenter Božo Vučinić worked, who made that kayak, and who later himself became a celebrated kayaker and champion of Yugoslavia .

That kayak is a '53. discovered and tested by Momo Lješnjak and Diko Čujović, who were the first to row Lima.

This sport soon infected doctor Blago Popović, who is responsible for the formation of the first kayaking club in that city that same year," says Stanić.

He recalls the anecdote when Dr. Popović ordered two more kayaks from Apatin.

Then the bill for them arrived at the address of the municipality and the then president of the district, Radomir Medojević, did not agree to pay for them until he saw them floating on the water.

"After making sure what kind of boat it was, he said that Blago made a mistake by not buying at least three, which were immediately ordered. And that's how the development of that sport began in our city," says Mirko.

Since then, the kayaking club "Lim" has been a member of the Shipping Association of Montenegro. Numerous competitions on calm waters followed, in which Bjepolojci, as a rule, won first place.

"That was in the sixties and the most prominent kayakers of that time were Đokica Lončarević, Šabo Šabanović, Nikola Bučkić, Budo Lješljak, Rizo and Nasko Kasumović, Jusuf Kurćehajić... .

Not even the girls of that time could resist this fun on the water, among which Zora Lončarević, Nena Labus, Vida Šćepanović and Meleća Kasumović stood out.

The most significant successes of the Bjelopolska kayakers at the time were winning the first place as a team at the republican competitions on calm and wild waters, the junior team third place at the Yugoslav competition, and in 1960, they also won the first place at the Yugoslav junior competition, in the canoe the two-seater in which Nikola Bučkić and I were," said Stanić.

The development of kayaking in Bijelo Polje also contributed to the meetings of kayakers from Bijelo Polje with their colleagues from the Italian province of Puglia, with whom meetings were organized alternately once a year in the two countries.

Nikola Rakonjac, Nikola Bučkić, Samir Šabanović, Rizo and Ibrahim and others stood out in those competitions.

In the 50s, the club had about 70 vessels and its premises, which fully met the needs of about XNUMX members.

However, from the pollution of Lim with waste water from the then Ivangrad pulp factory, shedding began.

With the cessation of operation of the factory, Stanić, together with two enthusiasts Nikola Bučkić and Sabra Šabanović, relaunched the initiative to renew the club's work, which soon became involved in numerous domestic and international competitions.

Thus, from the nineties, the people of Bjelopolje began to participate again in various domestic and international competitions, such as the Balkan Championship, the International Youth Sports Games, the Montenegrin Marathon, the Montenegrin State Championship, memorial tournaments, and in addition, the kayak club participated in numerous

Lake Skadar, going down Lim, Tara. In addition to sports and recreational activities, Bijelo Polje kayakers are involved in various searches for drowned people in the waters of Lim.

Today, the club has 15 kayaks, which only partially meets the needs of about 30 club members.

Helped kayakers in Podgorica

Stanić made a great contribution to the restoration of the sport of kayaking in Podgorica. In the XNUMXs, he rebuilt KK "Jablan", after which, together with Zak Dizdarević, he founded the kayaking club "Morača".

He also emphasized the good cooperation with the Montenegrin Kayaking Association and the President Vladimir Šoć.

"In the 60s and XNUMXs, the only sea for the people of Bielsko-Biała was Lim and no one mentioned the sea or went there. Throughout the summer, especially on weekends, families would spend time with their children on the shores of Lim, so that there was hardly a person from Bielsko-Biała who did not sit in a kayak at least once, whether it was men or girls and women. At that time, not only did the environment approve of girls driving kayaks, but all the people of Bjelopolje followed with great enthusiasm the results of the distinguished fellow citizens of that time," said Stanić.

Kayak knows how to "infect" both the old and the young

Stanić once infected his wife Radmila, with whom he has been married for almost five decades, three children and seven grandchildren, two of whom - Gligorije (12) and Bogdan (12) - also participate in competitions. For him, this is one of the most wonderful sports that moves and develops the entire body's musculature.

"It's a wonderful way to separate children from the streets, computers, games, drugs. This sport develops sociability, kayakers are great altruists, always ready to help others, and at the same time it also refers you to other sports that take place on the water. Along with the peace that comes from being on the water, where there is the least presence of polluted particles, the beauty of all our rivers and especially the Lim, which is so much sung by our people, has a special positive influence," says Stanić.