ACTIVITY SCIENCE INSTITUTE)
Sérgio Bastos Moreira
I
had my first contact with Maria Lenk when I started my undergraduate degree in physical education in 1978 as I had always been interested in and played sports. This re-nowned professor was already retired, but remained active with her remarkable presence in sporting events and never missed an opportunity to give her contribution to ventures that valued sport. She had always worked and struggled for physical education and, particularly, for swimming to have due recognition of their importance in the education-al and sports training of young people in the country.As I had graduated in Aeronautical Sciences in 1970 and worked for decades as an air officer in the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), I followed the pathway sciences were tak-ing at that time, includtak-ing the sophisticated physiology laboratories NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Ad-ministration) built to prepare its astronauts for the harsh conditions they would face in space flight. That provided the impetus for the creation of other laboratories focused on physiological research of effort in various parts of the world, including Kenneth H. Cooper’s in the U.S. Air Force.
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The emphasis that the forerunners of sports sciences gave to the scientific focus that should be given to physical ac-tivities made the sports scene clearer at the time. Maria Lenk had planted this seed in the newly created ENEFD (National School of Physical Education and Sports), which was also present in her early books, examples of articula-tion between sport and science.
However, there was a problem: financial resources were necessary to deeply study the characteristics of physi-cal activities in the light of science. Brazil has never given much importance to this, relegating sports scientists to low budgets that did not allow them to go far beyond incipi-ent studies in small laboratories, usually with the objective of researching diseases or investigating organic disorders caused by physical exercise.
With my experience in aviation, I glimpsed the possibility of obtaining resources from a project that aimed to research the work stress of Brazilian aeronauts. I then sought Fran-cisco da Costa e Silva Júnior, who was also a pilot and held the position of vice-president of the Air Force Sports Com-mission. We were able to raise awareness of the technical director of the Department of Civil Aviation (DAC) of the former Ministry of Aeronautics and a presentation of the project was scheduled to the boards of the main national airlines of the time. The idea was that the project would be supported by funds from these companies, since they had great interest in studies of this nature.
I defended the project in 1991, in the DAC auditorium with the presence of representatives of several regional airlines and the Ministry of Labor, because the scientific research that was proposed would provide subsidies for a better understanding of the working reality of the air men. To our satisfaction, the project was very well received and aroused the interest of the Organization Internationale de
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L'Aviation Civile (OACI), a body which was based in Toron-to, Canada, linked to the United Nations (UN), and which regulated all civilian air transport in the world.
The OACI proposed to finance the research for five years.
As we intended to work with Physical-Professional Fitness (AFP), we decided to develop a proper environment of studies that would include stress physiology, biomechanics, psychology, biochemistry and physical training. It would be called "Institute of Physical Activity Sciences" (ICAF) and would be located in Campo dos Afonsos, in Rio de Janeiro.
With the guarantee of the budget, our challenge was then to choose the best equipment that would be appropriate to our studies and to the commitment made. We would need to consult and visit advanced research centers in the area of physical activities to define the instruments best suited to our interests.
By coincidence, Francisco da Costa e Silva Júnior, who also wrote a chapter for this book, was professor Maria Lenk’s nephew. He commented with her about our needs at ICAF.
Maria then made herself entirely available and made con-tact with Dr. Kenneth Cooper, her friend, who at the Dallas Aerobic Center in the state of Texas (USA). A visit to the Aerobic Center was then scheduled.
In Dallas we met Professor Lenk, who personally led us to Dr. Cooper. He welcomed us, accompanied us personally in our stay, showed us all the facilities and introduced us to the researchers of the Center. They would help us with any clarifications we needed. The visit was of enormous value so that we could choose the most appropriate equipment to be purchased for ICAF.
In the U.S., we also made technical visits for the same pur-pose to the laboratories of the U.S. Air Force Academy
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(USAFA) and the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC).
When we returned to Brazil, we had well defined the in-struments best suited to our needs.
Finally, in 1993, the Institute of Physical Activity Sciences (ICAF) was inaugurated in Rio de Janeiro from my initial project. And, for the first time, within a research institute, a Sports Training Laboratory was conceived, in addition to others, to develop specific and innovative studies to support training.
We were always very grateful and had enormous satis-faction of welcoming in the premises of the new insti-tute Professor Maria Lenk, who had helped us so much with her idealistic personality for the creation of that en-terprise. She kept interested in knowing what we were accomplishing and followed with sincere excitement the direction of our research.
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