[4] He swam in the first ever men's 10 km open water marathon, against a field of 24 other competitors, including former pool swimmers Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria and Thomas Lurz of Germany, and his teammate Vladimir Dyatchin.

[6] The following year, he recaptured his success by winning two silver medals for the same categories at the 2010 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Roberval, Quebec, Canada.

[7][8] He also reinforced his lead in the FINA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, by reaching the top position in all eight meets of the series, including his first-place finish in Santos, Brazil.

[10] In 2011, Drattsev won the gold medal at the third stage of FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in Viedma, Argentina, with a time of 2:33:07, three seconds ahead his teammate Sergey Bolshakov (2:33:10).

[11] Drattsev eventually qualified for the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China, where he won the bronze medal in the men's 5 km marathon, with a time of 56:18.5, approximately one second behind Greece's Spyridon Gianniotis.