Raichin Antonov ( bg, Райчин Антонов; born April 11, 1980) is a Bulgarian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Bulgarian record holder and champion in the 50 and 100 m freestyle. He is also a former member of the swimming team for the

Missouri State Bears The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University). Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Div ...

under head coach Jack Steck, and a business graduate at the

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

in Springfield, Missouri. Antonov qualified for two swimming events at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, by eclipsing FINA B-standard entry times of 23.48 (50 m freestyle) and 51.65 (100 m freestyle) from the Missouri State Swimming Championships. 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 ...

, Antonov challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including two-time Olympians George Gleason of the Virgin Islands and

Allen Ong Allen Ong Hou Ming (born 2 November 1979) is a Malaysian former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), a double gold medalist in the 100 m freestyle at the Southeast Asian Games (2001 an ...

of Malaysia. He rounded out the field to last place and fifty-second overall by 0.29 of a second behind Ong in 52.33. In his second event,

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 ...

, Antonov matched his position from his first on the morning's prelims. Swimming in heat five, he touched out Iceland's

Örn Arnarson Örn Arnarson (born 31 August 1981 in Reykjavík) is a swimmer from Iceland. He won his first major title in 1998 at the European SC Championships in Sheffield. There he captured the title in the 200 m backstroke. A year later, at the E ...

to take a sixth spot by 0.17 of a second, outside his entry time of 23.67.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
1980 births Living people Bulgarian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Bulgaria Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Sofia Missouri State Bears swimmers Expatriate swimmers in the United States 20th-century Bulgarian people 21st-century Bulgarian people {{Bulgaria-swimming-bio-stub