Sergey Ashihmin (Russian: Серге́й Ашихмин; is a Russian-born Kyrgyzstani former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), and a former Kyrgyzstan record holder in the 50 and 100 m freestyle. While playing for the Russian senior team, Ashihmin also earned a silver medal, along with Denis Pimankov, Dmitry Chernyshov, and double Olympic champion Alexander Popov, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 1999 European Aquatics Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Sergey Ashihmin | |||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | Sergey Ashikhmin | |||||||||||||||||||
National team | ![]() ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 87 kg (192 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||
Club | Volga | |||||||||||||||||||
Coach | Edward Bartkevich | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Ashihmin became one of the first swimmers from Kyrgyzstan to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta since the post-Soviet era. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 100 m freestyle, finishing in twenty-ninth place with a time of 51.07.[2] He also placed eighteenth as a member of the Kyrgyzstan team in the 4×100 m freestyle relay (3:30.62), seventeenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay (8:00.00), and twenty-first in the 4×100 m medley relay (3:56.24).[3][4][5]
In 1998, Ashihmin shared silver medals with Popov, Pimankov, and Roman Yegorov for Russia in the sprint freestyle relay (3:17.99), when the U.S. hosted again the Goodwill Games in New York City.[6]
At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Ashihmin competed again in four swimming events. He posted FINA B-standards of 23.55 (50 m freestyle) and 51.20 (100 m freestyle) from the Russian National Championships in Moscow.[7][8] In the 100 m freestyle, Ashihmin placed thirty-fourth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat six, he shared a third seed with Greece's Spyridon Bitsakis in a matching time of 51.28.[9][10] Two days later, in the 50 m freestyle, Ashihmin challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including Kazakhstan's top sprinter Sergey Borisenko. He came up short in second place and forty-first overall with a time of 23.53, trailing Borisenko by seven hundredths of a second (0.07).[11] He also placed twentieth as a member of the Kyrgyzstan team in the 4×100 m freestyle relay (3:25.03), and nineteenth in the 4×100 m medley relay (3:46.70).[12][13][14]