#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. 36 students attended the lecture, and about 40 swimmers attended the training sessions. This year the swim on the Yenisei will take place over three distances: five kilometers, 100 and 500 meters. The Taimyr national team will be formed from 30 athletes who have passed the qualifying swim.
For the third time, the Norilsk Development Agency has initiated the preparation of the Norilsk team for the cold start of X-WATERS Yenisei 2024. This year, the meeting of the Norilsk swimmers with the coach took place despite a two-day flight delay, but the coach’s trip to Dudinka had to be canceled due to the weather. An online lecture was held for Dudinka athletes.
Classes for the participants of the future swim were conducted by a coach with 35 years of experience, master of sports in modern pentathlon, world record holder in winter swimming, winner and prize-winner of open water competitions Natalya Vasilyeva. This is not the first time she has helped northerners prepare for cold swimming. In past years, she supported the guys during swims in lake Lama, and in 2023 during the first conquest of the Yenisei.
“During the lecture and training with experienced swimmers, we recalled navigation skills, practiced stroke phases, and mastered new exercises to improve swimming techniques in open water. With those guys who have an average level of swimming, we adjusted the crawl technique. It was important for beginners to feel the water and understand how to synchronize the stroke and breathing”, says Natalya Vasilyeva.
The second training will take place in Norilsk and Dudinka on March 1 and 2. The classes will be conducted by candidate master of sports in swimming Elena Parfenova, who became the fastest woman to swim across the Kerch strait. The third and fourth training sets are scheduled for April 5–6 and April 26–27.
The qualifying swim for the Taimyr team will take place on May 24 and 25. Participation in X-WATERS Yenisei will be free for 30 swimmers who get qualified for the northern team. But the extreme swim itself will take place on July 13 in Dudinka.
Earlier, we wrote how the northerners conquered the polar Yenisei for the first time, and an extreme sportsman from Perm won a trip and participation in X-WATERS Yenisei from the NordStar airlines.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Natalya Cherkashina, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
