Alexei Puninski
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |
 Croatia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
11 January 1985 Yekaterinburg, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, butterfly | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | HPK Mladost (CRO)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Auburn Tigers (USA)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach |
Brett Hawke (USA) Richard Quick (USA)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alexei Puninski (born January 11, 1985 in Yekaterinburg, Russian SFSR) is a Russian-born Croatian swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events.[2] He is a multiple-time Croatian champion and record holder in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events (both 50 and 100 m). He also won two gold medals in the 50 m butterfly at the 2002 European Junior Championships in Linz, Austria, and at the 2006 European Short Course Championships in Helsinki, Finland, with respective times of 24.57 and 23.21.[1][3]
Puninski qualified for the men's 100 m butterfly at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by finishing third, and clearing a FINA A-standard entry time of 52.61 from the USA Swimming Grand Prix in Columbus, Ohio.[4][5] He challenged seven other swimmers on the sixth heat, including five-time Olympian and former champion Lars Frölander of Sweden. He rounded out the field in last place by seven hundredths of a second (0.07) behind Venezuela's Octavio Alesi with a time of 53.65 seconds. Puninski failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-seventh out of 66 swimmers in the preliminary heats.[6]
At the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka, Puninski set a Croatian record of 22.63 seconds in the semifinals of the men's 50 m butterfly.[7] He also won a bronze medal as a member of the Croatian team in the men's 4×50 m freestyle relay, with a time of 1:23.68.[8]
Puninski is also an eighteen-time All-American swimmer, a full-fledged member of the Auburn Tigers, and an international business graduate at the Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lackner, Stefan (8 October 2008). "Getting to Know: Croatia's Alexei Puninski". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ↑ "Alexei Puninski". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ↑ "Russia Dominates as Euro Junior Champs Come to a Close". Swimming World Magazine. 14 July 2002. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ↑ "Alexei Puninski Earns Spot On Croatian Olympic Team". Auburn Tigers. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ↑ "USA Swimming Grand Prix, Columbus: Katie Hoff Doubles Up". Swimming World Magazine. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ↑ "Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 6". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ↑ "2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships (Rijeka, Croatia) – Men's 50m Butterfly Semifinals" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ↑ "European Short Course Championships: Three World Records Set During Finals, 2008 Total Upped to 105". Swimming World Magazine. 14 December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
External links
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