Menlo Park’s marathon man: Aleksei Averchenko readies for daylong swim at Burgess Pool

Averchenko suffered a burst fracture of the spinal cord and broke 20 ribs, and was unable to return to triathlon training. As a swimmer, he could no longer sprint competitively.

“I’m a very stubborn person,” Averchenko said. “I swam like 500 yards ... and then for one month I couldn’t walk. I was in so much pain for the first six months in general. But the first time I swam it just knocked me down completely.”

Running proved too rigorous as well. While undergoing months of soul-searching during his rehabilitation, however, Averchenko took inspiration from the marathon he had always wanted to run.

“If I cannot run 26 miles, I can for sure swim 26 miles,” Averchenko said.

So, after years of training at Burgess Pool, Averchenko set out to swim a marathon distance. Along the way, he grappled with gaining and losing feeling in his left leg. To this day, he has regained approximately 70% of the feeling in his leg, he said. And while he accepted he’d never be a professional triathlete himself, he reinvented his passion as a teacher.

Less than a year after the accident, in October 2024, he founded the First Youth Triathlon Team at Belle Haven Pool in Menlo Park. Then, in May 2025, he swam his first marathon at Burgess Pool as part of a charity drive to raise money for his new team of prospective youth triathletes.

“It’s quite rare,” said Tim Sheeper, Menlo Park Burgess Pool operator. “He came up with it himself. ... Last year, this was a big emotional landmark for him. And he’s come a long way since.”

On Wednesday, Averchenko will celebrate his 33rd birthday by swimming a marathon at Burgess Pool for the second straight year. With over 46,000 yards to swim, Averchenko will hit the pool at 6 a.m. for approximately 12 nonstop hours of swimming.

“It’s not for the money,” Averchenko said. “More just like I want to draw more attention to the team, to the sport ... and to drunk driving ... let’s try to draw more attention. ... You’re not going to miss anything if you slow down for 30 seconds. You’re going to be fine.”

Horrific accident

A former collegiate swimmer at Fresno Pacific University and Nova Southeastern University in Florida, Averchenko combined for 12 All-American honors between both schools. He set program records at Fresno Pacific in the 100-yard fly, the 200 fly, the 200 back and the 200 IM. He later set the program record in the 100 back at Nova Southeastern.

He was 27 when he started swimming at Burgess Pool, and recalls feeling like he was often in his own world of competitive training. But, even if he wasn’t aware of it, he grew into a notable figure in the Menlo Park swimming community.

“He was a revered part of [the Burgess Pool community], and there was a lot of adulation because of his wonderful athletics,” Sheeper said. “Not only his athletics, but his personal demeanor.”

Averchenko said he was planning on relocating to Ithaca, New York. On the day before he was scheduled to fly across the country, he decided to go for a bike ride. It was a cold, rainy, morning, Nov. 24, 2023, and he never saw the car coming when he was struck from behind. He was thrown from his bike and blacked out for a brief spell. When he came to, he being attended to by a passerby on the side of the road.

“I remember when I opened my eyes ... I was like: ‘What happened?’” Averchenko said. “‘I know what happened to my bicycle.’ He was like: ‘You don’t have a bicycle anymore.’”

Averchenko was flown to Stanford Hospital and spent eight days in the ICU. It was there he witnessed the extend of his connection with the Burgess Pool community.

“Everybody was grief-stricken when they found out about the accident and the extent of his injures as a result,” Sheeper said. “And they did what they always do around here. They rallied around the person because of the challenge.”

Long recovery

As soon as Averchenko was allowed visitors, they began showing up in droves, some staying for hours just to keep him company.

“I think they just saw something in me when I was training,” Averchenko said. “I showed up as a youngster on that team ... and I was working my butt off, and I think they just saw it in me. ... This guys comes from Russia, didn’t know anything, anyone, and just showed up in California. ... I think they were just supportive and they showed me the care.”

Averchenko had long prided himself as a dreamer, growing up envisioning Olympic glory. He was already recalibrating that dream in his late 20s in pivoting to triathlon. Then, in an instant, the dreams and ambitions were done, leaving him with a crisis of confidence in the future.

“I felt like it’s maybe a good sign,” Averchenko said. “It’s like maybe a hard stop. Like: ‘Aleksei, you’re done with that. ... You don’t have to torture yourself with that dream anymore.’”

After eight months of ups and downs, much of the time spent trying to regain his mobility and independence, Averchenko’s stubborn nature tapped back in to his competitive drive. Giving back to the Menlo Park swimming community became a goal after the showing of support he had witnessed.

“I just knew them through the sport and they donated money and helped me to get back on my feet,” Averchenko said. “If not for these people, I probably would not have survived. ... Having a team, I probably never appreciated it as much as I did until after the accident.”

Reinvention on the long course

While sprinting is no longer an option for Averchenko, he has reinvented himself as a competitive swimmer on the long course.

Last summer, he competed in the Masters National Championships and won the over one-mile race in 16 minutes, 50 seconds. This past weekend, he returned to the Masters National Championships — at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina, the same venue where he reached the podium in the 2018 collegiate national championships — and placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, and third place in the mile.

“It’s something I need to close on a chapter on my life,” Averchenko said. “I need to do something. ... Until these days, I don’t feel like I’ve done it yet. Even now, it’s hanging there like an open book.”

It’s a chapter that includes Wednesday’s unique quest to execute a second marathon in the Burgess Pool.

“This year it’s more about the youth sport,” Averchenko said. “I’m trying to move a little bit away from my personal situation.”

For information on how to donate to the First Youth Triathlon Team, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/swimming-46300-yards-to-give-kids-a-chance