Alexei Akatevu
Alexei Akatevu (Russian: Алексею Акатьеву, also Aleksey Akatyev or Alexei Akatiev) is the senior open water swimming coach for the Russian National Teams, working with Sergei Kolmogorov (Russian: Сергей Колмогоров) as the Russian Swimming Federation National Head Coach for Swimming and Open Water.
Akatyev was formerly a marathon swimmer who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009.
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Open Water Swimming Career
Aleksey (Alexei) was the first Russian to transition from a world-class competitive pool swimmer to a world-class marathon swimmer. After competing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in two events, he won the 5 km and 25 km races at the 1998 FINA World Swimming Championships. He later established an open water school in Russia and serves as the Russian national open water swim coach.
At the 2000 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships, he not only coached the team (including the Russian 5 km gold medalist and 25 km gold medalist), but also swam to a bronze medal in the 25 km, just over a minute slower than the swimmer he was coaching.
FINA World Championships
He won the following medals at the FINA World Championships:
- 1994 25 km bronze medal
- 1998 5 km gold medal
- 1998 25 km gold medal
- 1998 5 km team silver medal
- 2000 25 km bronze medal
LEN European Championships
He won the following medals at the LEN European Championships:
- 1995 5 km gold medal
- 1995 25 km gold medal
- 1996 5 km gold medal
- 1996 25 km gold medal
- 1999 5 km silver medal
- 1999 25 km gold medal
FINA World Cup Series
He won the following medals on the FINA World Cup Series:
- 1999 30 km gold medal in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia)
- 2000 25 km gold medal in Bled (Slovenia)
- 2000 30 km bronze medal in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia).
