Ravil Nachaev

Ravil Nachaev

Personal information
Full name	Ravil Nachaev
National team	Uzbekistan
Born	17 June 1974 Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, butterfly
Medal record Men's swimming Representing Uzbekistan Asian Games 2002 Busan 50 m freestyle Afro-Asian Games 2003 Hyderabad 50 m freestyle Asian Indoor Games 2005 Bangkok 50 m freestyle 2005 Bangkok 100 m freestyle 2005 Bangkok 4×100 m freestyle 2005 Bangkok 4×100 m medley 2005 Bangkok 4×50 m freestyle 2005 Bangkok 50 m butterfly 2005 Bangkok 100 m butterfly Asian Championships 1996 Bangkok 4×100 m freestyle 2006 Singapore 4×100 m freestyle 2000 Busan 100 m butterfly 2006 Singapore 50 m freestyle

Ravil Nachaev (also Ravil Nagayev, Russian: Равиль Начаев; born June 17, 1974 in Tashkent) is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.^[1] He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), and a gold medalist in the 50 m freestyle at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.

Nachaev made his official debut, as a 22-year-old, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He failed to reach the top 16 final in any of his individual events, finishing forty-fifth in the 50 m freestyle (23.12), and forty-eighth in the 100 m butterfly (56.61).^[2][3] He also placed seventeenth, as a member of the Uzbekistan team, in the 4×100 m freestyle relay (3:28.33).^[4]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Nachaev competed as a member of the Uzbekistan team in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, along with Oleg Tsvetkovskiy, Petr Vasiliev, and Oleg Pukhnatiy. Although he swam the anchor leg in heat one, his team had been disqualified due to an early relay takeoff by Pukhnatiy.^[5][6] On the sixth day of the Games, Nachaev swam his two individual events, with only 90 minutes in between. First, he posted a lifetime best of 23.12 to lead the fifth heat of the 50 m freestyle.^[7] More than an hour later, in the 100 m butterfly, Nachaev stormed the entire field to another triumph in heat three by 0.04 seconds, with a time of 55.21.^[8] Despite of winning the heats in just a single day, he failed to advance into the semifinals in any of his individual events, finishing thirtieth in the 50 m freestyle, and thirty-fourth in the 100 m butterfly.

Nachaev later emerged as Uzbekistan's top swimmer, when he shared the gold with South Korea's Kim Min-suk in the 50 m freestyle, a matching time of 22.86 seconds, at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.^[9][10]

Nachaev shortened his program at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when he swam only for the third time in the 50 m freestyle. He achieved a FINA B-standard of 23.49 from the Kazakhstan Open Championships in Almaty.^[11] Nachaev registered a time of 23.23 to lead the fifth heat again, since he had previously done before in Sydney four years earlier. Nachaev failed to reach the semifinals for his third and final Olympic stint, placing thirty-sixth in the preliminaries.^[12][13]

References

1. "Ravil Nachaev". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
2. "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 50m Freestyle Heat 4" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 35. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
3. "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 2" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 46. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
4. "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 51. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
5. "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Heat 1" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 334. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
6. Newberry, Paul (16 September 2000). "Thompson anchors U.S. relay win; Thorpe wins 400 free". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
7. "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Heat 5" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 105. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
8. "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 3" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 207. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
9. "S.Korea Wins Their First Swimming Gold at Asian Games". People's Daily. 5 October 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
10. "Wu and Qi Win Third Gold Apiece, as China Winds Up a Dominant Performance at Asian Games". Swimming World Magazine. 5 October 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
11. "Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 5)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
12. "Men's 50m Freestyle Heat 5". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
13. Thomas, Stephen (19 August 2004). "Men’s 50 Freestyle Prelims Day 6: Hall Splashes a Hot 22.04, Fastest Qualifier; Lezak Makes This One but Popov, Hoogie Bow Out". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2013.

External links

• NBC Olympics Profile