Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, visited the All-Russian swimming competitions “Pobedim Vmeste”

(KZN.RU, June 3, Alina Berezhnaya). The All-Russian swimming competitions “Pobedim Vmeste” (Rus. “We will win together”) among children with Down syndrome take place for the second day in the swimming pool “Akcharlak”. More than 100 participants from 25 regions of the country take part in the competition. Today Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, the competition.

The head of the city talked to the coaches and wished all the children victory. He noted that Kazan, had already taken many sporting events after the Universiade, including for disabled children. “This is a chance for them to express themselves. The competitions are held within the framework of “Good Kazan”, so let there be more kindness, and sports and a healthy lifestyle prevail”, said I. Metshin.

The swimming tournament among “sunny children” is held in Kazan for the second time in the framework of the project “Good Kazan”. The geography of the participants expanded, unlike last year. Athletes from Moscow, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvash Republic, Ulyanovsk, Novosibirsk, Ryazan, Murmansk, Ivanovo, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Saratov, Tyumen, Moscow, Lipetsk, Amur Oblasts, and the Perm Krai and Altai Krai compete in the strength, agility, and endurance.

“Last year, 80 athletes took part in the competition. This year, there are already 102 of them. Competitions give children the opportunity to show their physical abilities. Everything is like in real competitions here: the children are assessed by a professional team of judges who worked at the Universiade in 2013”, said Svetlana Vostrikova, the chairperson of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports.

For two days, the children compete in swimming in breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, on backs, and in complex swimming for various distances from 25 to 100 meters. The athletes are supported by their parents, they are the main spectators and fans of these competitions. “The child is worried, and I am as well, but I try not to give let it on. I am proud when I see my boy swimming”, Elizaveta Vyazikova, the mother of one of the participants, shared her impressions.

Titled athletes are among the participants. One of them is 13-year-old Alexey Dektyarev from Moscow. The young man professionally engaged in swimming for 4 years. Alexey was awarded at many international and All-Russian competitions. Thus, an athlete is the absolute champion of Russia in short-term water, a three-time winner of the open championship of Europe, a four-time winner of the Olesya Vladykina Cup, a three-time winner of the Alexander Popov Cup. And this is just a small list of his awards. “I love to swim. Like any athlete, I have an idol and an example to take after. He is my dad, who brought me to the sport. I love to win, I dedicate each of my victories to my parents”, said Alexey Dektyarev.

Rustem Gafarov, the first deputy head of the Kazan Executive Committee, and Andrey Lobov, the head of the Vakhitovsky and Privolzhsky districts’ administration of Kazan, also attended the competitions.