Yauhen Mikalaevich Tsurkin ( be, Яўген Мікалаевіч Цуркін;

Łacinka The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from be, лацінка or łacinka, BGN/PCGN: ''Latsinka'', ) for the Latin script in general is the common name for writing Belarusian using Latin script. It is similar to the Sorbian alphabet a ...

: Jaŭhien Mikałajevič Curkin; born 9 November 1990) is a Belarusian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.

Career

He won a bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly at the

2012 European Aquatics Championships The 2012 European Aquatics Championships were held from 14 to 27 May 2012 in Debrecen, Hungary and Eindhoven, Netherlands. The 2012 European Swimming Championships were to take place in Antwerp, Belgium, but were reallocated to the City of Debrec ...

Debrecen, Hungary Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and it ...

, in a new Belarusian record time of 23.37 seconds. Tsurkin qualified for the men's 100 m freestyle, as a member of the Belarusian swimming team, at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, by attaining a B-standard entry time of 49.62 seconds at the European Championships. He challenged seven other swimmers in the fourth heat, including British-born Paraguayan swimmer

Benjamin Hockin Benjamin Hockin Brusquetti (born 27 September 1986) is an Olympic freestyle swimmer, who has swum international for both Great Britain and Paraguay (his father is British, his mother is Paraguayan). Hockin represented Great Britain at the 2008 ...

. Tsurkin edged out sixth-place finisher Gabriel Melconian Alvez of Uruguay by fifteen hundredths of a second (0.15), slower than his qualifying time of 50.53 seconds. Tsurkin failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed thirty-fourth out of 60 swimmers in the preliminaries. At the

2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships The European Short Course Swimming Championships (variously referred to informally as the "Short Course Europeans" or "European 25m Championships") are a swimming meet, organized by LEN. The m ...

Chartres, France Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

, Tsurkin lowered his national record time to 22.73 seconds, but was narrowly beaten by France's

Frédérick Bousquet Frédérick Bousquet (, born 8 April 1981 in Perpignan) is a retired freestyle and butterfly swimmer from France. He was the holder of the world record in the 50 m freestyle in a time of 20.94 in long course, set on 26 April 2009 at the ...

for top seeding in the semifinals of the men's 50 m butterfly. He won the 50 m butterfly at the 2014 European Championships. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, he competed in the 50 m butterfly and the 100 m freestyle, but did not progress from the heats in either event. His wife,

Aliaksandra Herasimenia Aliaksandra Viktarauna Herasimenia ( be, Аляксандра Віктараўна Герасіменя russian: Алекса́ндра Ви́кторовна Герасиме́ня; Łacinka: Aliaksandra Viktaraŭna Hierasimienia / Aleksandra G ...

, won a bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle in Rio.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsurkin, Yauhen 1990 births Living people Belarusian male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Belarus Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Male butterfly swimmers Belarusian male freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Gomel European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Universiade medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for Belarus Universiade silver medalists for Belarus Universiade bronze medalists for Belarus Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics