Alexandros Aresti ( gr, Αλέξανδρος Αρέστη; born 11 March 1983) is a Cypriot former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), and a Cypriot record holder in the 100 and 200 m freestyle. Aresti made his official debut, as a 17-year-old, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, where he competed in the men's 200 m freestyle. Swimming in heat two, he rounded out the field of seven swimmers to last place and forty-ninth overall by a 5.32-second margin behind winner

Mark Chay Mark Chay Jung Jun (simplified Chinese: 蔡荣俊; born 18 February 1982) is a Singaporean freestyle swimmer who has represented the Republic in, amongst others, the SEA Games and Summer Olympics. His international swimming career began at the ...

of Singapore in 1:57.54. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Aresti extended his program by qualifying for two swimming events. He cleared FINA B-standard entry times of 51.45 (100 m freestyle) and 1:53.61 (200 m freestyle) from the Akropolis Grand Prix. In the 200 m freestyle, Aresti challenged seven other swimmers on the third heat, including Olympic veteran Aleksandar Malenko of Yugoslavia. He edged out Chinese Taipei's Chen Te-tung to take a sixth spot and forty-fourth overall by 0.24 of a second in 1:53.90. In his second event,

100 m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

, Aresti placed thirty-eighth on the morning's preliminaries. Swimming in heat four, Aresti blasted a Cypriot record of 51.10 to save a second spot over Papua New Guinea's

Ryan Pini Ryan John Pini MBE (born 10 December 1981 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) is a 4-time Olympic swimmer from Papua New Guinea. He swam for PNG at the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics; also serving as the PNG flagbearer in 2008 and 2016. He ...

by 0.01 of a second.

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* * 1983 births Living people Cypriot male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Cyprus Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Larnaca Commonwealth Games competitors for Cyprus Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 20th-century Cypriot people 21st-century Cypriot people {{Cyprus-swimming-bio-stub