Rowing Through The Barbed Wire Fence. Aut. Rima Karalienė 2017

In the autumn of 1961, nine young men — rowers of Vilnius Žalgiris athletic association — became USSR rowing champions and were invited to the USSR national team. Though they had very important international competitions ahead of them, they were hounded at every turn by the echoes of the postwar years. Their parents' or loved ones' political opinions, their collaboration with partisans, and their relationships with the military of an independent Lithuania were all reasons for the KGB to restrict them from traveling abroad or to remove them from the team. They were replaced by athletes from other republics.

Cast overboard, the young men formed new crews, prepared for competitions, and rowed in regattas held within the USSR. However, they still felt like second-class citizens, experiencing colder relations with their former crewmates as they achieve victories in international competitions. All the while, they were also burdened by the painful memories and losses from their childhoods.

In 1963 and, thanks to the rowers' perseverance, determination, and fortunate coincidences, the KGB removed their restrictions on international travel. They placed at their first international competitions – the European Championship in Copenhagen. During their journeys abroad, they were closely followed by security officers and by Soviet propaganda.

As hostages of the USSR athletic system, the Lithuanians were forced to participate in countless selection competitions, but they eventually won the right to participate in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Rima Karaliene was born to a family of rowers when her Father was preparing for his first race at the Tokyo Olympics.

She is a rower, a rowers’ daughter, a rower's wife, and the mother of three rowers – two daughters and one son. She is a niece of four rowers, a cousin of seven rowers, an aunt of five rowers and a mother in law of an Olympic rower.

Rowing became the way of her life, and researching stories in rowing has become her greatest passion.

Rima’s first book is a real rowing story that had to be told so that the spirit of those rowers who rowed for an occupied Lithuania could inspire youth in the twenty-first century to value freedom and their Motherland.

Rima began her rowing “career” when she was thirteen. Four years later, she became a USSR Master of Sports, and a year later, she also became a USSR senior championship prize-winner. Further progress was difficult due to USSR sports policies and clear discrimination against Baltic rowers.

Rima never considered rowing to be a sport unsuitable for women. She was proud of her height, athletic shoes, the calluses on hands, and the wrenches and pliers rattling about in her purse. During physical education classes, she tried to do less push-ups than she knew she could so she wouldn't hurt the feelings of the boys in the class.

Rima always enjoyed the support and blessing of her parents' rowing crewmates, who have gone on to become coaches. To this day, these wonderful people are very special friends of her. They inspire Rima, honestly support her, and help her disentangle the knots of history and travel back to a time when there wasn't yet even a thought of her existence.

Rowing came into Rima’s life the day she was born and has been by her side every day since. In the interest of spending as much time as possible with this passion, Rima left her native Vilnius for the Trakai and exchanged her regular job for a private rowing club and a rowing museum.