Valentin Kuzmin (russian: Валентин Кузьмин; 4 January 1941 – 2008) was a Russian butterfly swimmer who won one silver and three gold medals at the European championships in 1962 and 1966. He competed in four events at the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

and finished in seventh, fifth and fourth place in the 200 m butterfly event, respectively. His team was also fourth in the 4 × 100 m medley relay in 1964. Between 1962 and 1966 he set seven European records, four in the 200 m butterfly and three in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. During 1959–1966 he also set 24 national records and won 20 national titles in butterfly and medley events. After retirement from senior swimming he competed in the masters category and won two national titles in 1989. He had a PhD in economical sciences and was a professor at the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. Between 1989 and 2005 he worked in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. After returning to Russia he took part in European championships in Sweden.

References

1941 births 2008 deaths Russian male swimmers Male butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers of the Soviet Union Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1963 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade Soviet male swimmers {{Russia-swimming-bio-stub