A race where contestants use inflatable sex dolls or willies as floats had 400 swimmers turn up to show off their strokes.

The Bubble Baba Challenge – 2023 took place on the Vuoksa River on its course through the village of Losevo, in the Leningrad region of Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg.

The now annual event was first held in 2003 and continued until 2011. But it could not take place from 2012 to 2020 due to the construction of a large railway bridge across the river.

But organisers resumed holding the event in 2021 and now the 2023 edition of the race, which sees men and women swimming 600 metres (1,968 feet) in the river with blow-up sex dolls and inflatable penises, has taken place on 12th August.

Event spokesman organiser Dmitry Bulavinov, 51, said: “The competition wants to underline that a rubber woman is nothing more than a means of transportation, and in accepting that we want to promote traditional values.”

This year, 333 men and 73 women fought for the first place, with the only rule being to swim to the finish line without losing the doll.

Dmitry said that the inflatables’ names were given by the participants themselves during the registration process.

Before the race started there was a parade with the contestants and their swimming partners.

Many have chosen to give their dolls wigs and makeup and in the end, the race for the men was won by a man using the pseudonym Karel and his companion Dinghy, who covered the distance in 5 minutes and 10 seconds consequent.

The women’s race was won by The Machine and her companion named Pleasures in 5 minutes 36 seconds.