#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. This year, the best swimmers of the Big Norilsk and Russia will cover 12 kilometers and conquer the Yenisey. There will also be another new distance for young athletes aged 14–17 for 500 meters.
Traditionally, there are distances for adult swimmers of 100 and 500 meters, as well as five kilometers. The innovations affected not only the new distances, but also the preparatory process. This year, the training set will consist of a dry workout in the gym and a swim in the pool.
“Every month a new coach will come with his own program and developments. Our task is to prepare swimmers for open water, teach them orientation. In order for swimmers to be physically prepared for the selected distances, we introduce dry training. The more time an athlete devotes to general physical training, the easier it is for him to work in the pool and cover distances longer than 100, 200 or 500 meters. Dry training becomes part of the preparation for the Yenisey swim”, said Natalia Vasilyeva, a cold-water swimming coach with many years of experience and a record holder in winter swimming.
This time, during the dry training, the participants of the X-WATERS Yenisey – 2025 swim, under the careful guidance of coach Natalia Vasilyeva and her assistant Anna Vtyurina, worked out 25 golden exercises (the so-called swimmer’s base of general physical training) to prepare the body for conquering open water. Working with an expander is among of them to practice the stroke technique and increase its efficiency.
Another innovation for future swimmers was the division of swimmers by the time it took to cover 100 meters in the pool. Natalia Vasilyeva explained that such gradation was used in the first swims in Taimyr, then it was cancelled.
“It is easier for a coach to work when swimmers have almost the same physical fitness, swimming speed, experience and make similar mistakes. In such a situation, it is easier to track and correct shortcomings and give new tasks. But when people with different training levels are in the pool, the coach’s attention is scattered and he works with either one or two swimmers, or the majority of the group to the detriment of the rest. This year, the swimmers’ level of training is very good. It will be rather difficult to select for the Taimyr team. Therefore, it is advisable not to skip training, to do general physical training and go to the pool”, the coach explained.
During the training on the water, the swimmers worked on their orientation, calm breathing and balance, performing the exercise they did during the dry training.
The next training slot is scheduled for February 21, and the qualifying swim for the Taimyr team will take place on May 24.
Earlier, This Is Taimyr reported that ten swimmers overcame the Arctic frontier of 600 kilometers from Dudinka to Dikson.
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Text: Natalia Cherkashina, Photo: author
