Sergey Ashihmin (russian: Серге́й Ашихмин; is a Russian-born

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

i former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), and a former Kyrgyzstan record holder in the 50 and 100 m freestyle. While playing for the Russian senior team, Ashihmin also earned a silver medal, along with

Denis Pimankov Denis Sergeyevich Pimankov (russian: Денис Серге́евич Пиманков; born 4 February 1975 in Omsk) is a freestyle swimmer from Russia, who won several medals as a member of the freestyle relay team (4×100 m and 4×200&nbs ...

, Dmitry Chernyshov, and double Olympic champion Alexander Popov, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the

1999 European Aquatics Championships The European Long Course Championships 1999 were a swimming competition held in Istanbul, Turkey from Monday 26 July to Sunday 1 August, in the 50 m pool of the Ataköy Olympic Pool Stadium. The 24th edition of the event was organised by the ...

in Istanbul, Turkey. Ashihmin became one of the first swimmers from Kyrgyzstan to compete at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

since the post-Soviet era. He failed to reach the top 16 final 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 ...

, finishing in twenty-ninth place with a time of 51.07. He also placed eighteenth as a member of the Kyrgyzstan team in the 4×100 m freestyle relay (3:30.62), seventeenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay (8:00.00), and twenty-first in the 4×100 m medley relay (3:56.24). In 1998, Ashihmin shared silver medals with Popov, Pimankov, and Roman Yegorov for Russia in the sprint freestyle relay (3:17.99), when the U.S. hosted again the

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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 ...

, Ashihmin competed again in four swimming events. He posted FINA B-standards of 23.55 (50 m freestyle) and 51.20 (100 m freestyle) from the Russian National 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 ...

. In the

, Ashihmin placed thirty-fourth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat six, he shared a third seed with Greece's Spyridon Bitsakis in a matching time of 51.28. Two days later, in the 50 m freestyle, Ashihmin challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including Kazakhstan's top sprinter Sergey Borisenko. He came up short in second place and forty-first overall with a time of 23.53, trailing Borisenko by seven hundredths of a second (0.07). He also placed twentieth as a member of the Kyrgyzstan team in the 4×100 m freestyle relay (3:25.03), and nineteenth in the 4×100 m medley relay (3:46.70).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashihmin, Sergey 1977 births Living people Kyrgyzstani male freestyle swimmers Russian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Kyrgyzstan Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Russian emigrants to Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstani people of Russian descent European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Goodwill Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games