Lenny Krayzelburg

 

 

 

Olympic medalist

 

 

Men’s swimming

 

 

Gold

2000 Sydney

100m backstroke

 

 

Gold

2000 Sydney

200m backstroke

 

 

Gold

2000 Sydney

4x100m medley relay

 

Lenny Krayzelburg  is an American backstroke swimmer.

Early years

Krayzelburg was born to Jewish parents in Odessa (formerly in the Soviet Union, now in Ukraine), on September 28, 1975. He and his family left the Soviet Union in 1989, to look for new opportunities in the United States. They settled in Los Angeles.

Here Krayzelburg's family suffered from financial difficulties. He had to commute by bus and foot 45 minutes each way to swimming practice, and didn't get home before 9.30 in the evening. In addition, Lenny had to cope with language problems, and to study English rapidly in order to understand his coaches' instructions. Thankfully he was aided by the extensive Russian community in Los Angeles, and managed to adapt quickly.

College

Lenny first attended Santa Monica College where he won both the 100 and 200 yard backstroke junior college titles. His coach at Santa Monica recognized his talent and recommended him to Mark Schubert at USC. Lenny transferred to the University of Southern California. In 1995, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Four years later became the first swimmer since 1986 to sweep the backstroke events, (100m & 200m), in the world championships. Later that month Krayzelburg broke both the 100 and the 200m world records respectively, setting the clock on 53.60 and 1.55.87. He was then recognized as the top backstroke swimmer in the world and one of the best in the history of this swimming style. He continued to dominate at the Sydney 2000 Olympics backstroke, shattering the Olympic record and nearing his own 1999 world record with 53.72 in the 100m, while making another Olympic record in the 200m with 1.56.76. He also played an important role in helping the American team win a gold medal in the 4x100m relay with a new world record of 3.33.73.

Maccabiah Games

After the Olympics Krayzelburg decided to skip the 2001 World Championships that took place in Fukuoka, Japan, in order to focus on the Maccabiah games in Israel. Being Jewish, Krayzelburg wanted to take this once-in-a-lifetime chance to compete with other top Jewish athletes. In addition, he wanted to fulfill a childhood dream by visiting the holy land and lifting the American delegate flag during the games' opening ceremony.

Success

Krayzelburg is known as one of the physically strongest swimmers around, and for his powerful arm strokes, a product of his training regimen and bodybuilder-esque physique. He is 1.88m tall and weighs just above 85 kg.

Lenny owes lots of his career achievements to his father Oleg, who has been a significant part of his success by repeatedly urging and pushing him to go on, even when Lenny wanted to quit at the age of 14. He enjoys reading as well as working with computers. Additionally, he was voted as 1999's USA swimmer of the year.

 

Lenny Krayzelburg

Lenny Krayzelburg on his way to winning 200m backstroke gold in Sydney.AFP/File