![]() Semyon Belits-Geiman in 1966 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Soviet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 16 February 1945||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 161 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Dynamo Moscow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman ( Russian: Семён Викторович Белиц-Гейман; born 16 February 1945) is a former Soviet freestyle swimmer. [1] He set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, and won two Olympic medals.
Belits-Geiman is Jewish and was born in Moscow, [2] [3] [4] where he attended the Transport Engineering Institute, [5] studied journalism, and worked as a journalist for the magazines Sports Life in Russia and Soviet Sport. [6]
Belits-Geiman began swimming when he was eight. [3] He was affiliated with the Moscow club Dynamo, and became a member of the Soviet swimming team in 1962. [3] [7] He competed at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, and finished in seventh place in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and eighth in the 400 meter freestyle. [7]
At the 1965 Summer Universiade, he won the gold medal in the 400 m freestyle and three silver medals in the 1,500 m and relay races. [3] In 1965, his time in the 1,500 m was the second-fastest in the world (17:01.90). [3] [8]
In 1966, he won the gold medal against three of the best American freestyle swimmers in a US vs USSR competition in Moscow. [3] That year at the European championships, he won gold medals in the 1,500 m freestyle (16:58.5) and 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (8:00.2) and a silver medal in the 400 m freestyle (4:13.2; behind German Frank Wiegand, and ahead of Frenchman Alain Mosconi). [3] [9] In 1966, he was ranked number three in the world in the 1,500-meter freestyle. [3]
On 8 March 1966, he set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, at 8:47.4, in Budapest. [1] [10] [11] [12] That was 4.1 seconds faster than the former record set by Australian Murray Rose in 1962. [5] [13]
At the 1967 Universiade in Tokyo, he won a silver medal in the 1,500 m freestyle, behind American Mike Burton. [8]
He won a silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in the 4×100 freestyle relay (3:34.2), swimming the lead leg, and a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (8:01.6), swimming the second leg. [1] [2] [3] In the 4 × 200 m relay, one of his teammates was Vladimir Bure. [3] He also swam two individual freestyle events, finishing seventh in the 200 m freestyle, and ninth in the 400 m race. [3] He broke 67 Soviet national freestyle records. [3] In 1974, he was named president of the Moscow Swim Federation and vice president of the Soviet Union Federation. [3]
Later in his life he competed in cross-country skiing and speed skating, and became a Soviet Master of Sport and coach in both disciplines. [1] [3]
Beginning in the early 1980s, he developed training programs for figure skaters. [3] [14] He created a program to increase coordination and flexibility which was used by Australian ice dancing champions Natalie Buck and Trent Nelson-Bond in the early 2000s. [15]
In 2017, he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. [16]
He met his wife, Russian ice dancing coach and former competitive ice dancer Natalia Dubova, when he covered one of her competitions as a sportswriter. [14] [15] In 1999, they moved to Stamford, Connecticut. [17]
![]() Semyon Belits-Geiman in 1966 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Soviet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 16 February 1945||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 161 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Dynamo Moscow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman ( Russian: Семён Викторович Белиц-Гейман; born 16 February 1945) is a former Soviet freestyle swimmer. [1] He set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, and won two Olympic medals.
Belits-Geiman is Jewish and was born in Moscow, [2] [3] [4] where he attended the Transport Engineering Institute, [5] studied journalism, and worked as a journalist for the magazines Sports Life in Russia and Soviet Sport. [6]
Belits-Geiman began swimming when he was eight. [3] He was affiliated with the Moscow club Dynamo, and became a member of the Soviet swimming team in 1962. [3] [7] He competed at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, and finished in seventh place in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and eighth in the 400 meter freestyle. [7]
At the 1965 Summer Universiade, he won the gold medal in the 400 m freestyle and three silver medals in the 1,500 m and relay races. [3] In 1965, his time in the 1,500 m was the second-fastest in the world (17:01.90). [3] [8]
In 1966, he won the gold medal against three of the best American freestyle swimmers in a US vs USSR competition in Moscow. [3] That year at the European championships, he won gold medals in the 1,500 m freestyle (16:58.5) and 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (8:00.2) and a silver medal in the 400 m freestyle (4:13.2; behind German Frank Wiegand, and ahead of Frenchman Alain Mosconi). [3] [9] In 1966, he was ranked number three in the world in the 1,500-meter freestyle. [3]
On 8 March 1966, he set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, at 8:47.4, in Budapest. [1] [10] [11] [12] That was 4.1 seconds faster than the former record set by Australian Murray Rose in 1962. [5] [13]
At the 1967 Universiade in Tokyo, he won a silver medal in the 1,500 m freestyle, behind American Mike Burton. [8]
He won a silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in the 4×100 freestyle relay (3:34.2), swimming the lead leg, and a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (8:01.6), swimming the second leg. [1] [2] [3] In the 4 × 200 m relay, one of his teammates was Vladimir Bure. [3] He also swam two individual freestyle events, finishing seventh in the 200 m freestyle, and ninth in the 400 m race. [3] He broke 67 Soviet national freestyle records. [3] In 1974, he was named president of the Moscow Swim Federation and vice president of the Soviet Union Federation. [3]
Later in his life he competed in cross-country skiing and speed skating, and became a Soviet Master of Sport and coach in both disciplines. [1] [3]
Beginning in the early 1980s, he developed training programs for figure skaters. [3] [14] He created a program to increase coordination and flexibility which was used by Australian ice dancing champions Natalie Buck and Trent Nelson-Bond in the early 2000s. [15]
In 2017, he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. [16]
He met his wife, Russian ice dancing coach and former competitive ice dancer Natalia Dubova, when he covered one of her competitions as a sportswriter. [14] [15] In 1999, they moved to Stamford, Connecticut. [17]