GKOLOMEEV Kristian

4 Jul 1993
28
Male
Olympic Scholarship
VELINGRAD
 
Bulgaria
SAN DIEGO, CA
 
United States of America

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
SWM Swimming Men's 50m Freestyle 5
Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Finished
Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Finished
Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Finished
Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
YearLocation50Free100Free4x100Free M4x100Medley M
2016Rio de Janeiro, BRASF (21.98)H (48.68)H (3:14.62)H (3:36.75)
2012London, GBR-H (50.08)--

World Championships
YearLocation50Free100Free50Fly4x100Free M4x100Medley M
2019Gwangju, KOR2nd (21.45)-SF (23.29)H (3:14.44)-
2017Budapest, HUN7th (21.73)H (48.88)H (23.85)H (3:16.92)H (3:35.93)
2015Kazan, RUS7th (21.98)H (49.12)H (23.96)H (3:16.83)H (3:37.86)
2013Barcelona, ESPH (22.62)----

European Championships
YearLocation50Free100Free50Fly4x100Free M
2020Budapest, HUN3rd (21.73)H (49.05)H (23.61)5th (3:13.39)
2018Glasgow, GBR2nd (21.44)H (DNS)4th (23.19)5th (3:14.52)

Champions Swim Series overview - Three best ranks per season and event since 2019
Year50Free4x100Medley
20202 x 2nd1 x 3rd

Champions Swim Series - Ten best performances since 2019
RankYearEventLocationResult
2202050m FreestyleBeijing, CHN21.86
2202050m FreestyleShenzhen, CHN22.03
320204 x 100m Medley RelayBeijing, CHN3:53.05

World Championships Short Course
YearLocation50Free100Free50Fly
2018Hangzhou, CHNH (21.40)H (47.63)H (23.24)
2016Windsor, ON, CANSF (21.50)H (48.07)H (23.93)


Legend
Free - Freestyle, Back - Backstroke, Breast - Breaststroke, Fly - Butterfly, IndMed - Individual Medley, SF - Semifinal, H - Heats, DNS - Did Not Start, M - Men, W - Women, X - Mixed, DSQ - Disqualified, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not swim in final
:
Athlete
:
Exercise Science - University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
:
English, Greek
:
Team Elite Aquatics [USA] / Ethnikos Piraeus [GRE]
:
Akis Oikonomou [national], GRE
:
His father Tsvetan represented Bulgaria in swimming at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow and the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. (cw.us.edu, 29 Mar 2015; SportsDeskOnline, 18 Nov 2020)
:
He began swimming at age five. "I grew up in Heraklion, Crete [Greece]. I was training in Heraklion but it was really for a hobby. After my father passed away, I moved to Athens [Greece] with my uncle and my aunt, and I really launched my swimming career over there." (documentonews.gr, 08 Aug 2019; usa.greekreporter.com, 05 Apr 2020)
:
He would go to the pool with his father, who was a competitive swimmer. "At age 12, I started taking swimming more seriously. At age 17, I realised I could do a lot of things and I decided I didn't want to just follow a sport - I wanted to build a career in it. So I did." (cw.us.edu, 29 Mar 2015)
:
To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 05 Nov 2020; tovima.gr, 22 Apr 2020)
:
Winning silver in the 50m freestyle at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. (Instagram profile, 29 Jul 2019; documentonews.gr, 08 Aug 2019)
:
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, US swimmer Michael Phelps. (documentonews.gr, 08 Aug 2019)
:
His uncle, and his coach Akis Oikonomou. (documentonews.gr, 08 Aug 2019)
:
"Attitude, character, commitment." (tuscaloosanews.com, 10 Apr 2015)
:
He received a special award from the Greek Olympic Committee for his contribution to the sport for 2019. (livemedianews.gr, 03 Feb 2020)

While competing at the University of Alabama in the United States of America, he was named the 2014/15 Southeastern Conference [SEC] Male Swimmer of the Year. He was also voted the Most Outstanding Swimmer at the University of Alabama for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. (swimswam.com, 20 Apr 2015, 24 Apr 2016; rolltide.com, 14 Apr 2015)

General Interest

General
LIVING ABROAD
He was born in Bulgaria and grew up in Crete, Greece. He was talent-spotted by the University of Alabama coaches at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and moved to the United States of America to attend the university where he competed during the 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 collegiate seasons. He later moved to San Diego, CA, United States of America, where he trained ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "It's a lot different in San Diego than training in Greece. In America, you have a group of 20 to 25 people to train with every day, and that is really important. Everybody that you train with has the same goals, and that is to achieve something big. We have a really good team right here and everybody is pushing each other. We have great facilities and great weather." (cw.us.edu, 29 Mar 2015; rolltide.com, 31 Oct 2014, 01 Jan 2016; swimswam.com, 01 Jul 2019; documentonews.gr, 08 Aug 2019; usa.greekreporter.com, 05 Apr 2020)

FAMILY TRIBUTE
He says he swims in honour of his late father, and at the end of races kisses his hand and points to the sky. After his mother's death from complications through childbirth, his father moved his sons to Crete, Greece, and worked as a swimming trainer before Kristian moved to Athens in 2010. "My father always wanted one of his sons to follow in his footsteps. When he passed away, I took swimming more seriously. I said, 'I'm going to do this for him'. Every time I race, I am thinking about him and my mother. I point to the sky. I don't know if they are watching, but I hope I make them proud. I'm a tough individual, but life made me this way." (tuscaloosanews.com, 10 Apr 2015; documentonews.gr, 08 Aug 2019)

Legend
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos