Valērijs Kalmikovs
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Valērijs Kalmikovs |
| Nickname(s) | Val, Valery |
| National team |
 Latvia
|
| Born |
4 March 1973 Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Breaststroke, medley |
| College team | University of Nebraska (U.S.) |
| Coach | Jeļena Solovjova Cal Bentz (U.S.) |
Valērijs "Val" Kalmikovs (born March 4, 1973) is a Latvian former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events. He is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000) and a top 16 finalist in the 200 m breaststroke on his Olympic debut in Atlanta (1996). He still holds a Latvian record in the 200 m breaststroke (2:16.21) that stood for more than a decade. While studying in the United States, Kalmikovs achieved a sixth-fastest of all time in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2000 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. He has also been named a three-time Big-12 Conference Champion and a nine-time All-American, as a member of the University of Nebraska swimming and diving team. Since his sporting career ended in 2004, Kalmikovs has extensively traveled across the United States and Europe, working as a swimming coach.
Kalmikovs, a native of Riga, Latvia, started swimming at the very young age under a Soviet system. Both of his parents were swimming coaches that motivated and inspired him to undergo training to an elite level and to become part of the Latvian squad. He has one younger sister, Margarita Kalmikova, who is also an elite breaststroke swimmer. Kalmikovs and his sister shared a sibling tandem in the sport, when they both competed together in two editions of the Olympic Games (1996 and 2000).
Kalmikovs accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he competed for the Nebraska Cornhuskers swimming and diving team under head coach Cal Bentz. While swimming for the Cornhuskers, Kalmikovs received a total of nine All-American honors, captured three Big 12 Conference titles, and held four school records in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke. At the 2000 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, during his junior year, Kalmikovs posted a sixth-fastest time of 2:10.64 in the 200-yard breaststroke, where Ed Moses set a new world record. In his senior season, Kalmikovs served as an assistant volunteer coach for the team before he graduated from the University in 2001 with a bachelor of arts degree in international affairs.
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