Vadim Alekseyev ( he, ודים אלכסייב, russian: Вадим Алексеев ; born April 11, 1970) is a retired Olympic
breaststroke
Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...
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 competed for first the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, then Israel.
Alexeev was born in
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...
,
Kazakh SSR,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He is Jewish, and immigrated to Israel in 1992.
He speaks Russian.
Career
Alekseyev held Soviet and Israeli records in the 1990s.
He won the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke races at the 1986 European Junior Championships.
At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, he took sixth in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:16.7.
In 1989 he set the Soviet record in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:02.11); it was the third-fastest time in the world that year.
That year he was one of the two fastest swimmers in Europe. In 1990, he won a silver medal at the
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...
in the 100-meter breastroke.
At the 1994 World Championship, he set the Israeli record in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:15.47).
In 1995, he set the Israeli record in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:02.52).
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, he swam for Israel. There, he swam the four-man 4x100 meter medley with
Yoav Bruck
Yoav Bruck ( he, יואב ברוק; born March 6, 1972, in Lakhish) is a former swimmer from Israel, who competed in three Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1992.
Bruck is Jewish. He finished 32nd in the 50m freestyle (23.72) ...
, Eitan Urbach, and
Dan Kutler
Dan Kutler (born May 2, 1970 in Mountain View, California) is a former butterfly swimmer, who was born in the United States, and swam for Israel in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He is Jewish and grew up in Santa Clara, California, competed ...
. The team reached the final, taking eighth place.
At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,
Tom Be'eri
Tom Beeri ( he, תום בארי; born 17 May 1986 in Yagur) is an Israeli swimmer who represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Biography
Be'eri was born and raised in Kibbutz Yagur, Israel. He won multiple Israeli National Champion title ...
beat Alekseyev's prior Israeli record in the men's 100-meter breaststroke by one-tenth of a second (at 1:02.42).
See also
*
List of Jews in sports#Swimming
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alekseyev, Vadim
1970 births
Living people
Soviet male breaststroke swimmers
Kazakhstani male breaststroke swimmers
Israeli male breaststroke swimmers
Israeli people of Kazakhstani-Jewish descent
Olympic swimmers of the Soviet Union
Olympic swimmers of Israel
Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Jewish swimmers
Soviet Jews
Kazakhstani Jews
Kazakhstani emigrants to Israel
Israeli Jews
Sportspeople from Almaty
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games