Anna Kozlova (; born 30 December 1972) is a former synchronized swimmer who competed in three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. After competing in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

and winning four European Championships representing the Soviet Union and its successor organizations, she defected to the

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in 1993. After missing the 1996 Atlanta Games due to a five-year wait to receive U.S. citizenship, she competed for her new country in

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, where her best placing was fourth. She went on to win gold medals in the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

in 2003, before returning to her third and final Olympics in

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, where she won two bronze medals.

Early life

Kozlova was born in

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, RFSFR,

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

on December 30, 1972, the daughter of a mathematics professor and a swimming instructor.

Early international career

Kozlova's first international competition was at the 1989 World Cup in

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, where although she failed to win a medal, she would later credit her impression of the American team at that competition as influencing her 1993 decision to defect to the United States.Note that while Almond's article refers to this event as a World Championships, the

World Aquatics Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. The championships are st ...

were not contested in 1989; the two closest being in

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and

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, neither of which fit with the rest of Almond's article, including the age he indicates Kozlova was at the time. Kozlova found success in two international competitions in 1991. At the World Cup in

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, she won a bronze medal with the Soviet team, and at

1991 European Aquatics Championships The 1991 European Aquatics Championships was a water sport competition hosted in Athens, Greece from 18–25 August. Medal table Swimming Men's events Women's events Open water swimming * Held in Terracina, Italy from 14–15 Sep ...

, she paired with Olga Sedakova to win the gold medal in the duet routine competition. The Soviet team also captured the team gold medal. Following the

breakup of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, twelve of the former Soviet Republics chose to compete together at the

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as the Unified Team. Kozlova was chosen to compete in both competitions contested, solo and duet, the duet again with Sedakova. Kozlova's performance in the solo competition was unremarkable, as she failed to advance past the first day of competition. However, the duet with Sedakova was much better, as the team finished in fourth place, one shy of the medals. Remarkably, Kozlova and Sedakova had to finish the duet competition without a coach, as their coach abandoned them part-way through the three-day competition. In January 1993, Kozlova and Sedakova traveled to the

to train on a temporary visa, where they lived with the family of

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gold medalists and sisters; Becky Dyroen-Lancer and Suzannah Bianco. Returning to Russia, she competed at the

1993 European Aquatics Championships The 1993 European Aquatics Championships were held in Sheffield, United Kingdom from Tuesday 3 August to Sunday 8 August, in the 50 m pool of the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. The 21st edition of the event was organised by the ...

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that August. Leaving the Unified Team concept behind,

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competed as an independent nation. Kozlova partnered with Sedakova for the final time at the Sheffield competition, but they repeated their success from 1991, and captured the duet gold medal. The Russian team also won the gold medal, their first of eight consecutive they would eventually win.

In the United States

Shortly after the European Championships in 1993, Kozlova flew to

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to attend Suzannah Bianco's wedding. Kozlova received her green card in 1994, which allowed her to work in the United States, after receiving a gift to pay for an immigration lawyer from a man in a diner who overheard her talking to Carver. As a result of this decision, Kozlova was unable to participate in international competition until she received her U.S. citizenship, which she finally did on 7 October 1999. Although Kozlova could not participate in international competition before she received her U.S. citizenship, she did remain active with a

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club team, the Santa Clara Aquamaids, where she won national titles in solo, duet, and team competitions multiple times. Because of the timing of her citizenship application, Kozlova's first major competition as an American was the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, and at age 27, she competed at the Olympics under the U.S. flag. In the duet competition, Kozlova partnered with Tuesday Middaugh to take fourth place out of 24 pairs competing. As part of the United States team, she placed fifth in the team competition. This was the first Olympics the United States did not win a medal in synchronized swimming. At the 2002 World Cup in

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, Kozlova won her first international medal as an American, winning bronze in the team competition. For the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. ...

Kozlova participated in three events. With new partner Alison Bartosik, she placed fourth in the duet competition. It was in Barcelona that Kozlova won her first world championship medals with a silver medal in the free combination team event, and a bronze medal in the team technical competition. For the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

Kozlova won two gold medals; with Bartosik she won the duet competition, and they both were part of the U.S. team that won the team competition. The crescendo of Kozlova's career was at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. For the duet competition, Kozlova again partnered with Bartosik. The partnership finished in third place in each of the three routines, which resulted in them finishing third overall, earning them a bronze medal. Two nights later, Kozlova won another bronze medal, in the team competition.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozlova, Anna 1972 births Living people Soviet synchronized swimmers Russian synchronized swimmers Russian emigrants to the United States American synchronized swimmers 20th-century American sportswomen Olympic synchronized swimmers for the Unified Team Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Synchronized swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Synchronized swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in synchronised swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships Swimmers from Saint Petersburg Sportspeople from Santa Clara, California Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 21st-century American sportswomen