‘Adrenaline, Community, and the Opportunity to Travel’

Building an active university sports community is one of HSE University’s priorities. HSE houses many sports clubs, from track and field or football to rowing and aikido. Evgeny Kanaev, Deputy Head of the HSE Office for Integration Solutions, is into swimming. He has tried various distances, as well as multi-day marathons. Now he is preparing for a new personal record—a 24-hour continuous swim, which will take place in Desnogorsk.

How it all started

I had limited athletic experience as a child: in primary school, I practised swimming for several years at a sports school. Then I had to choose: to study and get good grades or swim. So, I gave up swimming. Thirty‑two years later, when I had already gone through many things—diving, freediving, running, ice swimming, and winter swimming—my friends, who also practised winter swimming, incidentally suggested trying amateur summer races in open water, which were held all over the country.

At just a bit over forty years old, I could no longer cover even one kilometre without a dozen stops, but following my heart I took part in two swim races—one in Moscow and one in St Petersburg. Although it was hard, and I was among the last, I managed to reach the finish, and that inspired me: I really wanted it. So, in 2022, I took up swimming again. Of course, it is not a professional school like in my childhood, but now I get even more excited when I train, and my results get better every time.

Why swimming

There are crazy emotions, adrenaline at the starting line, friends, a community, and the opportunity to travel, because the races take place in different parts of our vast homeland—from Kaliningrad (and the Baltic Sea) to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (and the Pacific Ocean), from Sochi (the Black Sea) to our northern seas. You can visit any city, and it’s really great. I have actively practised swimming for three years, and I haven’t participated in even half of the Russian races yet. I have a fantastic route, huge plans, and I have already scheduled some races for 2027.

I started with short distances and realised that the competition there was high. Besides amateurs, professional athletes also swim there, including people who have recently been a part of the Russian national team, as well as champions of Europe. It’s very difficult for amateurs to compete against them, so I also took up long-distance swimming.

Training

I have my own training programme, a club, and a coach. I have at least four high-intensity workouts a week. On weekends, I often take part in competitions in different cities of the country or perform long training sessions.

Training sessions have cycles (macro, meso, and microcycles). The coach chooses them depending on our goals and key races.

We are constantly working on technique and endurance. Such terms as tempos, modes, and intervals are casually used during 90-minute workouts.

Amateur sports are available to everyone. People in a lane next to mine swim at half my speed, and the coach offers them a programme adapted to their capabilities.

Tips for beginners

An untrained person can also swim and participate in competitions. There are short races: 300 metres, 500 meters, and one kilometre, both in a pool and in open water. Probably, everyone who has practised swimming in one way or another can give it a try.

One man on our team only learned how to swim when he was 40. Last year, he completed a swimming marathon in Samara—a five-day rally, 181 kilometres.

If you want to participate in races as well, the first thing to do is to set yourself a goal: what and why. Everything is built around the goal: the coach, the training, the format, the duration, and the team.
The team is highly influential: friends and sparring partners motivate you to get up every morning at 5 am for training. The coach should also be professional and passionate about their work.

Two or at most three 45–90-minute workouts per week are enough to get started. Before my race, I had a few preliminary individual training sessions to perfect my technique, and only then did I join the group. We had long, intense workouts, and I started to compete in simple races to gain experience. Maybe a year later I earned my first medal, third place in my 40+ category.

Personal achievements

I am proud of the very first race, where I braved as much as 3 kilometres on Lake Beloye in the Moscow region. I stopped, switched to breaststroke or backstroke, but I completed the race owing to my courage and desire to finish, even though I had no extraordinary skills.

I am proud of my long marathons. I have covered 21 kilometres on Lake Turgoyak three times. I have covered 181 kilometres of the Zhigulyovskaya Krugosvetka route twice in solo and duet formats. It is a five-day rally: every day you swim 20, 30, 40, 50 kilometres. You sleep at night, then get up again in the morning and swim. Then sleep, then swim. It goes on for 5 days and 4 nights.

I did a 16-kilometre challenge swim in the Pacific Ocean in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, as well as many pool swims lasting up to 12 hours (up to about 30 kilometres).

Swimming at HSE University

HSE University is home to many sports communities, but there was no swimming community until recently. On April 10, a swimming club was opened (in Russian) at the St Petersburg campus with the great support of Director Anna Tyshetskaya (by the way, she is also a swimmer and participated in her first races this year and last year). Also, with the support of the Sports Community Support Centre headed by Sergey Fedorovtsev, we will soon hold a small series of meetings in Moscow and St Petersburg, where I will speak about the races and preparation for open water swimming at any skill level. I’ll try to light a spark, attract more people to our new club, and build a real community.

Upcoming races

I take part in about 40–50 races a year. I have a special schedule, which is already partially filled for 2027. I don’t know where I will spend my vacation, but I know exactly when I will be, for example, in Murmansk or in Teriberka. This year’s most important race is a 24-hour charity swim, which will take place on May 16 in Desnogorsk, Smolensk region. We are to enter the water at 8 am on May 16 and finish at 8 am on May 17. The participants will not be allowed to go ashore; meals will be served in the water. The expected water temperature is from 13 to 25 °C in different water zones.

I am currently preparing for this swim, and I believe that I will succeed. I look forward to new achievements and emotions.

April 15