Igor Nikolaevich Polianski () (born 20 March 1967 in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

) is a former

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from the

USSR 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 ...

. Polianski trained at

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

in Novosibirsk. In 1986, he became the

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Unified All-Russian Sports Classification () is a system which regulates the Russian physical education system requirements for both athletes and coaches. History In the Soviet period Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR () exist ...

. From 1985 to 1990, Polianski was a member of the USSR National Team.Profile in the Olympic Encyclopedia
/ref> He won three medals at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, including the gold in the 200 m backstroke. Polianski won gold medals at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in the 100 m backstroke and 200 m backstroke and a bronze medal in the 4×100 m medley. On 3 March 1985 in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, GDR, Polianski set the new world record in the 200 m backstroke at 1:58.14 that stood six years. Three years later, he improved the world record time in the 100 m backstroke three times: first on 15 March and 16 March in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, to 55.17 and 55.16 respectively, and then on 16 July in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to 55.00. The latter was beaten by David Berkoff a month later. In 1989, Polianski graduated from the Omsk State Institute of Physical Culture. He lives in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and runs a swimming school, Waterlions, in partnership with his wife. He is a member of the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Swimming Community, coaching from the Epsom Girls Grammar and Massey High School campuses.

References

databaseOlympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polyansky, Igor 1967 births Living people Russian male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Soviet Union Soviet male backstroke swimmers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Russian expatriates in New Zealand Sportspeople from Novosibirsk Russian swimming coaches World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade 20th-century Russian sportsmen

See also

References