On October 21–22, 2023, the XVII open Voronezh region swimming championship “Capital of the Black Earth Region” in the “Masters” category was held in the VSU swimming pool. The championship was attended by 140 athletes over 20 years, representing 29 clubs of the Russian Masters Swimming Federation. The geography of participants covered many Russian cities: from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol, from Donetsk to Volgograd. The oldest swimmers were Irina Syrvacheva (81 years old), who came from St. Petersburg, Ivan Cherevko (80 years old), and Yuri Marenkov (80 years old), both athletes from Lipetsk.
At the opening parade of the competition, Honoured Coach of Russia, leading specialist of the Department of International Relations and Regional Development of the All-Russian Swimming Federation, Irina Motorkina, gave a welcoming speech. She read out an address from the President of the All-Russian Swimming Federation, four-time Olympic champion Vladimir Salnikov, to the championship participants. Vice President of the Russian Masters Swimming Federation Yuri Perin noted the high technical level of the event.
During the competition, swimmers beat four Russian records in the Masters category. The athletes who swam faster than the current Russian records were awarded Russian Record Holder Certificates, signed by President of the Russian Masters Swimming Federation Alexander Danilov, and valuable gifts. All participants in the Magnificent Ten nomination were awarded numbered medals and diplomas from the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Voronezh Region.
The VSU Swimming School was represented by two coaches: Tatiana Prokofieva and Yuri Perin. As is traditional, the core of the judging panel consisted of two judges of the All-Russian category: the chief secretary of the competition, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and the chief judge, Alexandra Shagaeva.
