Pyotr Grigoryevich Skripchenkov (; 14 February 1926 – 2010) competed in the period when

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

was being split from

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

as a separate swimming style, and Skripchenkov was one of the first Soviet swimmers who mastered the butterfly. In 1952, he took part in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in the 200 m breaststroke, when butterfly was not an Olympic event yet. In 1953–1954 he swam the butterfly leg in the 4 × 100 m medley relay and helped the Soviet team to set three world records. Between 1949 and 1954 he won two national titles and set five national records. He later competed in the masters category, mostly in the 50 m butterfly event, in which he won the world championships in 1990 and several national titles. During World War II, he enlisted to the Soviet Army in 1944 and went up to Berlin with the infantry.ВФП провела торжественный вечер, посвященный празднованию 65-годовщины Победы в ВОВ
russwimming.ru (2010-05-09)

References

1926 births 2010 deaths Russian male butterfly swimmers Soviet male butterfly swimmers Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for the Soviet Union 20th-century Russian sportsmen {{Russia-swimming-bio-stub