Inna Nikitina

Inna Nikitina
Personal information
Nationality  Ukraine
Born 12 September 1982
Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Breaststroke
Club Dynamo Kryvyi Rih
Coach Viktor Zheltyakov

Inna Nikitina (Ukrainian: Інна Нікітіна; born September 12, 1982 in Kryvyi Rih) is a retired Ukrainian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events.[1] She is a 2000 Olympian, a fourth-place finalist at the European Championships, and a multiple-time national age group champion. During her sporting career, Nikitina trained for Dynamo Kryvyi Rih's swim team under her longtime coach and mentor Viktor Zheltyakov.[2]

Nikitina made her official debut, as a 14-year-old, at the 1997 European Aquatics Championships in Seville, Spain, where she finished off the podium in the 200 m breaststroke with a fourth-place time of 2:29.76.[3] The following year, at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia, Nikitina placed eighteenth from the prelims in the 200 m breaststroke at 2:33.18.[4]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Nikitina competed only in the women's 200 m breaststroke. She achieved a FINA B-cut of 2:33.39 from the Ukrainian Championships in Kiev.[5] She challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including teenagers Nicolette Teo of Singapore (aged 14) and Siow Yi Ting (aged 16). Entering the race with a fastest entry time, Nikitina seized off a powerful lead at the final turn until she dropped her pace on the final stretch to a second seed in 2:34.20, almost a full second behind leader İlkay Dikmen of Turkey. Nikitina failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed twenty-sixth overall in the prelims.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ "Inna Nikitina". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Lishnychenko, Yuriy (4 February 2005). Кіровоградські Дельфіни [Kirovohrad Dolphins] (in Ukrainian). Vecherniye Vesti. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "1997 LEN European Aquatics Championships (Seville, Spain): Women's 200m Breaststroke". Swim Rankings. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "1998 FINA World Championships (Perth, Australia): Women's 200m Breaststroke Heat 3" (PDF). USA Swimming. p. 23. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Swimming – Women's 200m Breaststroke Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Breaststroke Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 263. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Results from the Summer Olympics – Swimming (Women's 200m Breaststroke)". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 14 June 2013.