Raichin Antonov (; born 11 April 1980) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Bulgarian record holder and champion in the 50 and 100 m freestyle. He is also a former member of the swimming team for the

Missouri State Bears The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University). Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Divi ...

under head coach Jack Steck, and a business graduate at the

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. Antonov qualified for two swimming events 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 ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, by eclipsing FINA B-standard entry times of 23.48 (50 m freestyle) and 51.65 (100 m freestyle) from the Missouri State Swimming Championships. In the 100 m freestyle, Antonov challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including two-time Olympians

George Gleason George Gleason (born August 8, 1979) is a former swimmer from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), a swimming captain for the Yale Bulldogs, and a graduate of soci ...

of the Virgin Islands and Allen Ong of Malaysia. He rounded out the field to last place and fifty-second overall by 0.29 of a second behind Ong in 52.33. In his second event, 50 m freestyle, Antonov matched his position from his first on the morning's prelims. Swimming in heat five, he touched out Iceland's

Örn Arnarson Örn Arnarson (born 31 August 1981 in Reykjavík) is a swimmer from Iceland. He won his first major title in 1998 at the European SC Championships 1998, European SC Championships in Sheffield. There he captured the title in the 200 m backs ...

to take a sixth spot by 0.17 of a second, outside his entry time of 23.67.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
1980 births Living people Bulgarian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Bulgaria Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Sofia Missouri State Bears swimmers Expatriate swimmers in the United States 20th-century Bulgarian people 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-swimming-bio-stub