Anastasiya Sergeyevna Aksenova (also ''Anastasia Aksenova'', russian: Анастасия Серге́евна Аксенова; born March 5, 1990) is a Russian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in a sprint freestyle swimming double at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, and has also claimed multiple Russian championship titles and national records in both the individual and relay freestyle events (long and short course). Aksenova was also a member of Suduroyar Svimjifelag in Vagur,

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, under the tutelage of head coach Jon Bjarnason. Aksenova competed in a sprint freestyle double, and as a member of the Russian swimming team in both the freestyle and medley relays at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Leading up to the Games, she finished under the FINA B-cut with a fastest final time of 25.57 in the 50 and 55.51 in the 100 m freestyle at the Russian Open Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to ensure her selection to the Olympic swimming team. On the first day of the competition, Aksenova teamed up with

Daria Belyakina Daria Belyakina (born 16 September 1986) is a Russian swimmer. She competed at two Olympics, in the 200 m and 400 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics and in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 20 ...

, Yelena Sokolova, and

Svetlana Karpeeva Svetlana Anatolyevna Karpeyeva (also ''Svetlana Karpeeva'', russian: Светлана Анатольевна Карпеева; born October 16, 1985) is a Russian swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events. She has been se ...

in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the lead-off leg in heat one, Aksenova posted a split of 56.57 to give the Russians a sixth-place time and twelfth overall in 3:42.52. In the

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 ...

, Aksenova came from fifth at the turn to hold off the fast-charging Venezuelan swimmer

Arlene Semeco Arlene Iradie Semeco Arismendi (born January 11, 1984) is a female freestyle swimmer from Venezuela, who represented her native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2004. She won two gold medals at the 2007 Pan American ...

for the third spot and twenty-fifth overall in a bodysuit best of 55.29. On the last day of the prelims, Aksenova swam her two events with only an hour in between. First, she rounded out the top three swimmers in heat nine of the

50 m freestyle 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

with a scorching 25.51, but finished only in twenty-eighth overall. One hour later, Aksenova and her teammates Anastasia Zuyeva,

Yuliya Yefimova Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova (russian: Юлия Андреевна Ефимова, also romanized Efimova; born 3 April 1992) is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is the Russian record holder in the 200 metre individual medley (short course), ...

, and

Natalya Sutyagina Natalya Sutyagina (born 17 January 1980 in Penza) is a butterfly swimmer from Russia, who won the gold medal in the 50 m butterfly at the 2004 European Aquatics Championships. She is trained by Vladimir Timofeev. Sutyagina competed at three cons ...

had entered the top eight final with a fifth-seeded time in 3:59.66, before keeping their position intact two days later. Handing the anchor duties on the final exchange, Aksenova fired off a freestyle split of 54.13 to give the Russian foursome a fifth-place time in a much-deserving 3:57.84.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksenova, Anastasia 1990 births Living people Russian female swimmers Olympic swimmers of Russia Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Russian female freestyle swimmers People from Ukhta Sportspeople from the Komi Republic