 Her father, Jan Kazimirovich, was an engineer who was executed during the Stalin's purges in late 1930s.Vecherkovskaya started training in rowing in 1947, when she enrolled to the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Education (GDOIFK).She graduated in 1951 and until 1984 lectured at GDOIFK; after that, between 1984 and 1997 she worked as a physician at a city hospital for children.