Serghei Mariniuc
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Serghei Mariniuc (born February 14, 1969) is a Moldovan former swimmer, who specialized in individual medley events. He represented the Unified Team and the
Republic of Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised ...
in all three editions of the
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 ...
since 1992, and later became a top eight finalist in two individual medleys throughout his Olympic career, emerging him as the nation's most prominent swimmer. He also captured a silver medal in the 400 m individual medley at the
1993 FINA Short Course World Championships The 1st Short Course Swimming World Championships were organized by FINA and held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, December 2–5, 1993. The meet featured competition in a Short course (swimming), short course (25 meter) pool. During the championship ...
in
Palma de Mallorca, Spain Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...
. When he moved to the United States in 1993, Mariniuc trained professionally for the Santa Clara Swim Club in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
until he announced his official retirement in late 2000.


Career


Early years

Mariniuc, a native of Chişinău,
Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...
, started his sporting career at the age of eight under a strict Soviet swimming system. He shortly became a member of the Moldova Swim Club under his coach Luba Pohilenco, and then officially played for the
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 ...
's senior national team before its complete extinction in 1991. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Mariniuc emerged as Moldova's swimming sensation at every level of the competition. He made his official debut for the Unified Team, also known as the
Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...
, at 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 ...
in
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. While he did not win a single medal, Mariniuc successfully made the final, and finished seventh in the 400 m individual medley (4:22.93). He also posted a tenth-place time of 2:03.72 in the 200 m individual medley, trailing Spain's overwhelming favorite
Martin López-Zubero Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...
, the winner of the B-final, by 0.38 seconds. Returning home from the Games, Mariniuc viewed his nation as "forsaken" and "hopeless", discovering that some of the swimming pools did not have a water; others were filled with chemicals or locked. Giving up his sport to support the nation's financial scarcity, Mariniuc worked as a part-time taxi driver riding around Chişinău's urban suburbs to earn sufficient rubles, Moldova's main currency, for a living.


Journey to United States

In 1993, Mariniuc left his homeland
Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
with a thousand-dollar air fare for
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
, where he trained and worked as an assistant club coach for the Santa Clara Swim Club. Recovering from a physical condition back in his homeland, Mariniuc pulled away from the rest of the field to claim the 800-yard freestyle title (8:19.29) at the Swim Meet of Champions in
Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; language change, corruption of ; ) is a Commuter town, commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest Planned community, master-planned commu ...
. On that same year, Mariniuc added another coveted title in the pool to his collection at the U.S. Nationals in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, and later earned a silver medal for his native Moldova in the 400 m individual medley (4:11.96) at the
1993 FINA Short Course World Championships The 1st Short Course Swimming World Championships were organized by FINA and held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, December 2–5, 1993. The meet featured competition in a Short course (swimming), short course (25 meter) pool. During the championship ...
in
Palma de Mallorca, Spain Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...
, finishing behind Canada's
Curtis Myden Curtis Allen Myden (born December 31, 1973) is a former breaststroke and medley swimmer from Canada, who competed at three consecutive Summer Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. He won a total number of three medals at the Olympics, all of them bro ...
by 1.56 seconds.


International career

Three years since he moved to the United States, Mariniuc reached his worldwide breakthrough at the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
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, representing the
Republic of Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised ...
. Nearly a month before the Games, he earned three pool titles each in the 200 m IM (2:05.03), 400 m IM (4:23.74), and 800 m freestyle (8:10.60) at the Santa Clara International Meet, representing his host swim club. At the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, Mariniuc failed again to collect a single medal in any of his events, finishing eighth in the 400 m individual medley (4:21.15), and twelfth in the 200 m individual medley (2:04.11). Two years later, at the 1998 FINA World Championships in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
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, Mariniuc pulled off a twelfth-place effort in the 200 m individual medley with a sterling time of 2:04.58. Adding open water swimming to his program, he also placed eleventh in the 5 km (59:06.5), and twenty-first in the 25 km (5:52:28.7). Mariniuc swam only in the men's 400 m individual medley, as a 31-year-old, at 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 ...
in
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. He achieved a
FINA 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 ...
B-standard of 4:24.17 from the U.S. National Championships in
Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Feder ...
. He challenged seven other swimmers in heat three, including Russia's 19-year-old Alexey Kovrigin and Colombia's three-time Olympian
Alejandro Bermúdez Alejandro Bermúdez Tamayo (born March 30, 1975) is a retired backstroke and medley swimmer from Colombia. He competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1992. His best result was 13th place in the Men's ...
. Entering the race with a top-seeded time, Mariniuc enjoyed a powerful lead in the halfway mark, but fell short on the freestyle leg to register a third-place time and a lifetime best of 4:23.57, a 1.36-second deficit from winner Kovrigin. Unlike his previous Olympics, Mariniuc failed to reach the top 8 final, as he placed twenty-second overall in the morning prelims. Shortly after the Games, Mariniuc announced his official retirement from the sport.


Life after swimming

Since he came to the United States in 1993, Mariniuc became an expert in network and systems administration, database management, website development, and security. In 1999, Mariniuc was appointed to be the pioneer and IT director of an e-learning authoring tools company, where he programmed numerous features to implement a customer support process. Mariniuc is currently the vice-president of a technology services company based in
Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real and U.S. Route 101 in California, Highway 1 ...
, where among other support projects, he assist teams to generate and manage timing systems applied in national and worldwide swimming competitions. Mariniuc currently resides in
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
, along with his wife and former swimmer Eve Walton, and two children.


See also

* List of Moldovan records in swimming *
List of World Swimming Championships (25 m) medalists (men) This is the complete list of men's FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), World Championships medalists in short-course swimming (sport), swimming from 1993 to 2024. 50 metre freestyle swimming, freestyle 100 metre freestyle swimming, freest ...


References


External links


Profile – FastLane Tek

USMS Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mariniuc, Serghei 1969 births Living people Soviet male freestyle swimmers Moldovan male medley swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Unified Team Olympic swimmers for Moldova Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Male medley swimmers Swimmers from Chișinău Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Soviet male medley swimmers