On January 4, 2026, it will be exactly three years since I entered the pool again after a thirty-year hiatus.
They say that ten thousand hours is the threshold beyond which the path to professionalism in any field opens. Three years of daily work. Three years of discipline. Three years when the inner “I can’t” gradually turns into a quiet but confident “I must”… and then into “I can”.
Masters swimming gave me much more than a sporting goal. It became a space where you can learn again – as in childhood. Learn to move. Learn to endure. Learn to make mistakes and correct them right away. Learn to hear the body and be in the moment. Learn to go forward again and again. Adult life rarely gives a chance to feel like a student, but water does.
In the water, thoughts slow down. The body finds a rhythm. The world dissolves in a combination of blue, silence, and breathing. It's both effort and ease, a constant dialogue between water and will. It's not just movement; it's a meditation. It's not just a sport; it's a sanctuary. Swimming is freedom and a quiet rebellion against gravity. And water is a place where you meet yourself, stroke after stroke, breath after breath, silence after silence. You realize that sometimes the only way to move forward is to let go of control and simply swim.
And so, three years later, I achieved the title of Master of Sports in Swimming in the Masters category and received a certificate with a badge from the hands of Alexander Nikolaevich Danilov, President of the Russian Masters Swimming Federation. It's no joke.
But what does this badge on the lapel of my jacket really mean?
No, it's not about records.
No, it's not about medals.
No, it's not about standing out or proving myself.
It's a testament to the fact that age is not a limitation but a condition where you can discover yourself in a new way. It's a recognition that systematic effort is more effective than talent. It's a respect for the process of learning anew, which we often forget or put off as adults.
All I did was return to the pool three years ago. It's where I started my journey in 1983. Today, I continue it by regularly immersing myself in a foreign environment—the water, where there are no limits, as it is the world's ocean, and it's endless even in a pool, just like the path to perfection itself...
