Dzmitry Uladzimiravich Koptur (also ''Dmitry Koptur'', be, Дзмітрый Уладзіміравіч Коптур; born September 6, 1978) is a Belarusian former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He is a 2000 Olympian and a three-time Belarusian record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500 m freestyle. Koptur competed in three swimming events 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 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He cleared a

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

A-standard entry time of 15:27.86 (400 m freestyle) from the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

. On the first day of the Games, Koptur placed twenty-second in the

400 m freestyle 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. Swimming in heat four, he rounded out the field to last place by almost ten seconds behind winner

Massimiliano Rosolino Massimiliano "Massi" Rosolino (born 11 July 1978) is an Italian retired competitive swimmer. Biography Born in Naples to an Italian father, Salvatore, and an Australian mother, Carolyn, he moved to Australia at the age of three, coming back to ...

of Italy in 3:55.26. Four days later, Koptur teamed up with

Pavel Lagoun Pavel Mikalayevich Lahun ( be, Павел Мікалаевіч Лагун; born 12 February 1979) is a Belarusian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), and a three-time medal ...

, Igor Koleda, and Valeryan Khuroshvili in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Swimming the third leg, Koptur recorded a split of 1:51.14, but the Belarusians fell short to sixth place and twelfth overall in a final time of 7:24.83. In his final event,

1500 m freestyle Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

, Koptur challenged seven other swimmers in heat three, including top favorites

Ricardo Monasterio Ricardo Andrés Monasterio Guimaraes (born October 22, 1978) is a former competition swimmer who represented Venezuela at the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. Monasterio was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He attended the University of ...

of Venezuela and

Spyridon Gianniotis Spyridon "Spyros" Gianniotis (; born 19 February 1980) is a Greek competitive swimmer who specialises in long-distance and open-water freestyle events. He is an Olympic silver medalist, two-time World Champion, World Cup gold medalist, and two ...

of Greece. He held off Gianniotis by seven hundredths of a second (0.07) to earn a second spot in a time of 15:29.62. Koptur failed to reach the top 8 final, as he placed twentieth overall on the last day of prelims.

References

1978 births Living people Belarusian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Belarus Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Minsk {{Belarus-swimming-bio-stub