Kristian Tsvetanov Gkolomeev (, , born 4 July 1993) is a Greek former professional

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 ...

who represented his country at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. He specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.

Early life

Kristian Gkolomeev was born on 4 July 1993 in

Velingrad Velingrad ( ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, located at the western end of Chepino Valley, part of the Rhodope Mountains. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Velingrad Municipality and one of the most po ...

, Bulgaria. His mother, Kristina Golomeeva, died due to a medical error soon after giving birth to Kristian. His family moved to Greece when he was an infant. His father, Tsvetan Golomeev, was a famous Bulgarian swimmer. Tsvetan died in 2010 after an eight-month fight with cancer. Kristian Gkolomeev has two brothers, Nikola and Ivan.

Personal life

In 2018, Kristian married a fellow swimmer, Lindsay Morrow Gkolomeev, from his

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, the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Career

At 2011 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships – Lima (PER) Kristian Gkolomeev too
3rd place
with time 22.80 (50m freestyle). At th
14th Luxembourg Euro Meet
(27.29 January 2012) Gkolomeev finishe
9th
at Men's 100m freestyle with time 51.31 and wa
4th
at Men's 50m freestyle (22.92). At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he competed in the Men's 100 metre freestyle, finishing in 31st place (50.08) overall in the heats, failing to qualify for the semifinals. At the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Gkolomeev, as a freshman on the University of Alabama Crimson Tide swim team, tied for first in the 50 yard freestyle and finished 13th in the 100 yard freestyle. He was the first Alabama swimmer in school history to win the NCAA 50 Freestyle title. Kristian Gkolomeev.
University of Alabama. Retrieved May 21, 2025. At the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, he finished second in the 50 yard freestyle and won the 100 yard freestyle. He earned First Team All-America honors in the 50 yard free, 100 yard free, 200 yard free relay, and 200 and 400 yard medley relays. At the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, he finished third in the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle relay. He swam the anchor leg on Alabama's winning 200 medley relay team, the school's first NCAA swimming championships relay title. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, he competed in the men's 50 metre freestyle, finishing 10th in the heats with a time of 21.93 seconds. He qualified for the semifinals where he finished 13th with a time of 21.98 seconds and did not qualify for the final. He also competed in the men's 100 metre freestyle, finishing in 20th place with a time of 48.68 seconds which was a new national record. He did not qualify for the semifinals. Gkolomeev was also part of the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team which finished 10th in the heats and did not advance to the final and the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay team which finished 15th in the heats and did not advance to the final. Gkolomeev earned Greece's second ever World Championship medal in swimming, as he finished second at the 50 meters freestyle final at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships in South Korea. The Greek champion was joint second with Brazil's Bruno Fratus, clocking 21.45 seconds, behind American Caeleb Dressel. In the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Gkolomeev competed in the men's 50 metre freestyle, and finished 5th overall. In the

, he competed in the men's 50 metre freestyle, and once again finished 5th overall.

Enhanced Games

In May 2025, a video was published of Gkolomeev unofficially breaking the long course 50 metres freestyle world record at an February 2025 private event sponsored by the Enhanced Games.Sutherland, James (May 21, 2025)
Kristian Gkolomeev Goes Under 50 Free World in 20.89 at Enhanced Games Showcase.
SwimSwam. Retrieved May 22, 2025. He swam 20.89 seconds, 0.02 seconds faster than the current official record by

César Cielo César Augusto Cielo Filho (, born 10 January 1987) is a Brazilian former competitive swimmer who specialized in sprint events. He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained three Olympic medals, winning six individu ...

set in 2009.Associated Press (December 18, 2009)
Cielo sets 50-meter freestyle mark.
ESPN. Retrieved May 22, 2025. Gkolomeev admitted to taking

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances (PESs), also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. Many substances, such as anabolic steroids, can be used to improve at ...

before breaking the record, which was not certified by

World Aquatics World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

. In addition to taking performance-enhancing drugs for two weeks, Gkolomeev wore a Jaked

bodyskin Competitive swimwear refers to the swimsuit, clothing, equipment, and accessories used in the aquatic sports of swimming, diving, artistic swimming, triathlon, and water polo. Some swimsuits are designed specifically for swimming competitions ...

suit, which were banned from swimming competition in 2010, a year after Cielo's world record performance. A video was also published of Gkolomeev swimming 21.03 seconds in "jammer" competition-legal shorts. For this swim, he was aided by two months of performance-enhancing drugs usage and swam one hundredth second faster than

Caeleb Dressel Caeleb Remel Dressel (born August 16, 1996) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won ...

's fastest-ever mark in textile swimwear.

Other achievements

* World Junior Championships: ::Lima 2011: Bronze 50m freestyle, 4th place 4x100m medley * European Junior Championships: ::Belgrade 2011: Silver 50m freestyle * Balkan Junior Swimming Championships: ::Banja Luka 2011: Gold 50m freestyle, Gold 4x100m freestyle, Bronze 100m freestyle * Multination Junior Swimming Meeting: ::Corfu 2011: Gold 50m freestyle, Bronze 4x100m freestyle * European Championships Long Course: ::14th Luxembourg Euro Meet 2012: 9th place 100m freestyle, 4th place 50m freestyle ::Debrecen 2012: 4th 50m freestyle * Olympic Games: ::Tokyo 2020: 5th place (21.72) 50m freestyle ::Rio 2016: 13th place (21.98) 50m freestyle ::Rio 2016: 20th place (48.68) NR 100m freestyle ::London 2012: 31st place (50.08) 100m freestyle

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gkolomeev, Kristian 1993 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Greece Greek people of Bulgarian descent Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Greek male freestyle swimmers Place of birth missing (living people) Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece Panathinaikos swimmers Swimmers at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Swimmers at the 2018 Mediterranean Games European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming People from Velingrad Sportspeople from Pazardzhik Province Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Greek sportsmen Swimmers at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Alabama Crimson Tide men's swimmers Expatriate swimmers in the United States Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Greek sportspeople in doping cases Enhanced Games