Vadim Alexeev
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Vadim Alexeev (born April 21, 1970 in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan) is a former breaststroke swimmer from Israel, who was born in the Soviet Union. He competed in two Olympiads, first for the Soviet Union and then for Israel after emigrating in the early 1990s. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, he finished in sixth place in the 200m breaststroke (2:16.7).
After missing the 1992 Summer Olympics, Alexeev returned to Olympic competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There he was a member of Israel's 4x100m medley relay team – alongside freestyler Yoav Bruck, backstroker Eithan Urbach and butterfly swimmer Dan Kutler – which placed eighth (3:42.90). It was the first time an Israeli team advanced to an Olympic swimming final!
At the same event, Alexeev swam in two individual events. In the 100m breaststroke, he finished in sixth place in his preliminary heat (1:02.92), and missed qualifying for the consolation final by only 0.14 seconds; he officially finished in 18th position overall. Alexeev also swam in the 200m breaststroke, and finished in 27th overall after he posted a time of 2:20.47 in his preliminary heat.
Before emigrating to Israel, Alexeev was one of the Soviet Union's top young swimmers. He swam his first race at the age of twelve and entered his first international competition four years later. At the 1986 European Junior Championships, he won the 100m and 200m breaststroke events. After competing in the 1988 Olympics, he finished seventh in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 1989 European Championships in Bonn. That year, he briefly held the Soviet National record in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:02.11 – it was broken later that year, but was the third fastest time in the world in 1989. The following year, Alexeev had the world's twelfth fastest time in the 100m breaststroke (1:02.47).
Alexeev missed the Barcelona Games, and dropped in the world rankings when he emigrated to Israel, but quickly returned to top form. At the 1994 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy, he finished ninth in the 100m breaststroke (1:03.16) and tenth in the 200m breaststroke (2:15.47 – breaking the Israeli national record), and finished the year ranked in the top 15 in both events. In 1995, he remained amongst the elite swimmers in the world, breaking the Israeli national record in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:02.52) at a meet in Vienna. He finished in seventh place in the same event with a time of 1:02.54 at the European Championships. At the same competition, he helped the Israeli national team finish sixth in the 4x100m medley relay (3:44.94). Following the 1996 Summer Olympics, Alexeev retired from international competition.
