Lenny Krayzelburg[a] (born Leonid Olehovych Krayzelburg,[b] September 28, 1975) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics,[1][2] winning a total of four Olympic gold medals.
Krayzelburg is Jewish,[3] and was born to Jewish parents in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine). Krayzelburg and his family left the Soviet Union in 1989 for the United States. They settled in Los Angeles.
After their immigration, Krayzelburg's family suffered from financial difficulties. He had to commute by bus and on foot 45 minutes each way to swimming practice, and did not get home before 9:30 in the evening. In addition, Lenny had to cope with language problems, and learn 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.
In 1999, Krayzelburg broke the 50, 100 and the 200m world records respectively, setting the clock on 24.99, 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.[5]
He continued to dominate at the 2000 Summer Olympics backstroke, shattering the Olympic record and nearing his own 1999 world record with 53.72 in the 100, while making another Olympic record in the 200 with a 1:56.76. He also played an important role in helping the American team win a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay with a new world record of 3:33.73.[6]
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 2001 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Being Jewish, Krayzelburg wanted to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity 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. He was selected to carry the flag for the United States at the opening ceremonies.[7] He earned gold and set a new Maccabiah record in the 100-meter backstroke, and won a second gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay.
At the 2017 Maccabiah Games, in the special 4×50m relay race between Israeli and American all-star teams, American Olympic champions Krayzelburg, Jason Lezak (four Olympic golds), and Anthony Ervin (three Olympic golds), with masters swimmer Alex Blavatnik, swam a time of 1:48.23 and defeated Israeli Olympians Guy Barnea, Yoav Bruck, Eran Groumi, and Tal Stricker, who had a time of 1:51.25.[8]
Difficulties, perseverance
After the Maccabiah games, he underwent surgery on his left shoulder, following a fall while running on a treadmill, which required him to take a year off of training.
In September 2003, Krazelburg split from his coach Mark Schubert, to start training under Dave Salo, who also coached Aaron Peirsol. Peirsol was considered by many to be Krayzelburg's successor. Working with Salo, Krayzelburg changed the style of his stroke to account for his shoulder injuries.[9]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
