page_title: Krestovsky Island
section_title: Early sports venue for tennis, polo, sailing, rowing
hierarchical_section_title: Krestovsky Island / Early sports venue for tennis, polo, sailing, rowing
caption_attribution_description: English: Yacht club in Saint-Petersburg (Krestovsky island)
context_page_description: Krestovsky Island is a 3.4 km² island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, situated between several tributaries of the Neva: the Srednyaya Nevka, the Malaya Nevka and the Krestovka. The island is served by the Krestovsky Ostrov station of Saint Petersburg Metro. Until recently, the western part of the island was occupied by the Maritime Victory Park, where the international Goodwill Games of sports and athletics competition took place in 1994, which was the first large scale post-Soviet Union international event in Russia. A new stadium, Gazprom Arena, is located where Kirov Stadium was. The stadium serves as home for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.
  Meanwhile, the eastern part of this beautiful St Petersburg island, has seen slow but steady urbanization since the early 1900s, which has slowly changed its parkland nature. Recently there has been even more pressure from today's "nomenclature" to locate top-end housing projects and high-prestige homes here - a long-time tendency that also continues today, since historically the island was always owned by families who were close to and favourites of the Tzars/"powers-to-be" and who served them well.
context_section_description: On Krestovsky island, many "first" Russian sports venues and activities were launched with Belosselsky-Belozersky active support.  The Krestovsky tennis club "Lawn Tennis Club", (with the main efforts undertaken by the resident Scotsman Arthur MacPherson, whose sons were some of the first Russian tennis champions with George Vasilievich Bray, who is considered to have been the first Russian Champion.  George was also the Treasurer of the Krestovsky Lawn Tennis Club; See the note at the bottom of this paragraph for more information) Belosselsky horse polo grounds, as well as a yacht club and a rowing club were launched here in late 19th century along with a clay pigeon shooting range; all prior to the 1917 Revolution.
  The island was always a center for sports and recreation for the St. Petersburg residents.  Prior to the revolution, it was also a unique gathering place and venue for the "high-society" active in sports, the military officers and foreign diplomats, who participated in the horse polo events organized by the Belosselsky-Belozerskys.  As this sport was known to be a preferred sport of Englishmen at the time, the elder prince Belosselsky-Belozersky, Constantine Esperovich, became known as the "Angloman" for his keen interest in promoting this sport.  His elder son, prince Sergei Constantinovich was one of the first Russian international players of polo and took part regularly in the annual events in England and France at Rugby, Paris Bagatelle, Deauville, Biarritz, Pau, etc.  He organized many horse polo competitions on their Krestovsky island estate polo grounds, including international team events.  Well known visiting and resident international players of the time included British Ambassador Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (later Viceroy of India), British embassy secretaries Beaumont, Sperling, American  Ambassador George von L. Meyer and Chargé d'Affaires Spencer Eddy were among the company of the first local Russian players, who in addition to the Belosselskys, were Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, Prince Michael  Cantacuzène-Speranski, Count Kinsky, Messrs. Mouravi and Grabovski.  A special frequent player was Sergei Constantinovich's fellow general, later a Finnish Marshal, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, who also was part of the inauguration competition of the Krestovsky polo field, in the summer of 1897.
  Sergei Constantinovich was also a founder and sponsor of an early St. Petersburg athletics club named "Sport", which was located on Krestovsky island.  His activities led to him being invited to become a Russian representative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).  This made him the second all-time Russian and 28th overall representative to this venerable and still very active key international sports body.  Prince Sergei acceded the IOC together with count Ribaupierre, after Major-General A.D. Butovsky and before prince Troubetzkoy. In capacity of the IOC member, prince Sergei participated in the organizational committee of the 1900 Paris Olympic games and took part in equestrian events.
  
  The younger son of prince Constantin, prince Esper Constantinovich Beloselsky-Belozersky was an avid sailor and won an Olympic bronze medal in sailing (10 meter class) for Russia in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics as helmsman of the "Gallia II".  
    For sailing, the Krestovsky island was an ideal venue as it was here that the first Russian yacht clubs, "The Nevsky Flot" was launched by no other than Peter the Great in 1718.  The club is still active, although it has undergone several episodes of transformations, but is located on the Martynova Embankment at the North shore of Krestovsky Island.
  During the Soviet times, as well, the Krestovsky island was the base of many of the most successful sport and rowing clubs; among other,  Energia and Krasnoe Znamia.  Some fourteen Olympic champions came from this tradition.  Founded in 1889 and active still on Krestovsky Island during the early 1990s as Znamia, the club produced Olympic rowing champions Y. Tsykalo
caption: Yacht club on Krestovsky Island.
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