Rostyslav Svanidze

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Rostyslav Svanidze
Personal information
Full nameRostyslav Albertovych Svanidze
National team 
Zaporizhia, Ukraine
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubUkraïna Zaporizhzhia[1]
CoachIvan Proskura[1]
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Ukraine
Summer Universiade
Silver medal – second place 1999 Mallorca 4 x 200 m freestyle

Rostyslav Albertovych Svanidze (

Zaporizhia State Medical University
.

Swimming career

Early years

Svanidze, a native in

Georgian SSR, started his sporting career at the age of nine. He later became a pupil and a member of the swimming team for Ukraïna Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine's top sports clubs, under his longtime coach and mentor Ivan Proskura.[1]

In 1995, Svanidze made his worldwide breakthrough at the

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he placed fifth in a freestyle double (100 and 200 m). He also established a new Ukrainian record of 1:48.73 in the 200 m freestyle.[3]

Svanidze became one of the first ever swimmers to attend Ukraine's historic debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta since the post-Soviet era. In the 100 m freestyle, he powered home with a fourteenth-place effort in the B-Final at 50.43, edging out Canada's Stephen Clarke in a close finish by two-hundredths of a second (0.02).[4][5]

2000 Summer Olympics

See also: Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics

At the

Helsinki, Finland.[6][7] On the first day of the Games, Svanidze teamed up with Vyacheslav Shyrshov, Pavlo Khnykin, and Artem Honcharenko in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. Svanidze swam the second leg in heat three and recorded a split of 51.69, but the Ukrainians finished the race in fourth place and twelfth overall with a final time of 3:21.48.[8][9] In the 200 m freestyle, Svanidze placed twenty-fourth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat four, he picked up a second spot by almost a third of a second (0.33) behind winner Arūnas Savickas of Lithuania, in a time of 1:52.35.[10] Two days later, Svanidze, along with Goncharenko, Ihor Snitko, and Serhiy Fesenko, placed fourteenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a time of 7:32.16.[11][12]

Shortly after his second Olympics, Svanidze announced his retirement from swimming. He worked as a full-time senior lecturer under the faculty of

Zaporizhia.[1]

Death

On October 14, 2002, at age 30, Svanidze was found unconscious inside the gymnasium at

cerebral hemorrhage, caused by a traumatic aortic rupture, at the time of his death.[14]

Svanidze's untimely death shocked the nation's entire swimming field. Olympic medalist Denys Sylantyev recalled his emotion for a posthumous swimmer: "It feels like Rostislav just left. Somewhere far away. He and I have never competed, but we were very good friends. In matters of sport, I did not consult with him, because it is impossible to swim in different distances. None of us sought advice in real-life situations, but there is no request that he had not fulfilled. If you cannot do something, It is no longer a promise. We spent a lot of time in training camp, and more often, made fun of each other."[1]

References

  1. ^
    Fakty i Kommentarii
    . 19 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rostyslav Svanidze". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. ^ Hawrylyshyn, George (19–20 May 1995). "On the road to Atlanta: Ukraine's swimmers take silver medals in Rio". The Ukrainian Weekly. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  4. Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 36. Archived from the original (PDF
    )     on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Team Ukraine at XXVI Summer Olympics" (PDF) (30 ed.). The Ukrainian Weekly. 28 July 1996. p. 10. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  6. Sydney 2000
    . Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  7. ^ "2000 LEN European Aquatics Championships (Helsinki, Finland) – Men's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  8. Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 336. Archived from the original (PDF
    )     on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  9. Canoe.ca. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  10. Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 125. Archived from the original (PDF
    ) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  11. Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 341. Archived from the original (PDF
    ) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  12. Canoe.ca. 18 September 2000. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  13. Fakty i Kommentarii
    . 19 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  14. Fakty i Kommentarii
    . 4 July 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2013.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rostyslav_Svanidze&oldid=1212439779"