Andrei Minakov

View Current photo via Courtesy of Jack Spitser

Andrei Minakov is a competitive swimmer who represents Russia internationally. He won a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships at the age of 18 in the 100 fly. On November 29, 2019, Minakov announced his verbal commitment to swim for Stanford in the fall of 2020.

International Competition

2018 Youth Olympic Games (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Minakov won gold in the 100 fly (51.12), breaking the Russian record owned by Egor Kuimov (51.16).

2019 World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)

Minakov earned a silver medal in the 100 fly, clocking a national record 50.83, besting the mark he set in the event semifinals (50.94). Minakov finished second behind American Caeleb Dressel (49.66).

Minakov was a member of the 400 medley relay team that set a national record (3:28.81) en route to a bronze medal. Minakov swam the third leg in 50.54. Evgeny Rylov (52.57), Kirill Prigoda (58.68) and Vlad Morozov (47.02) rounded out the lineup. The Russians finished third behind Great Britain and the United States.

2019 World Junior Championships (Budapest, Hungary)

Minakov started his championships in the 400 free relay, where he had a 47.82 to help Russia earn silver behind the USA.

On day 2, Minakov swam fly on Russia’s mixed 400 medley relay, splitting 51.66 to help Russia earn another silver behind the US.

On day 3, Minakov earned his first gold medal of the championships, touching first in the 100 fly with a time of 51.25. Later in the session, Minakov swam 2nd on Russia’s mixed 400 free relay, once again splitting a 48.21, helping Russia to its 3rd relay silver in as many days.

Minakov touched for 1st once again in the 100 free on the final day of competition, earning gold in a time of 48.73. He finished off his program in the 4×100 medley relay, where he helped power Russia to its first relay gold of the meet, splitting 50.93 on the butterfly leg.

2019 Swammy Awards

For his accomplishments at both the World and Junior World Championships, Minakov earned the Breakout Male Swimmer of the Year and the World Junior Male Swimmer of the Year Swammy Awards.

2020 Swammy Awards

Minakov had a record-breaking fall, downing a total of three world junior records, two in short course and one in long course.

Minakov’s first world junior record of the year came in the 50 fly when he hit a 23.05 at the long course Russian Championships in October. His swim knocked down Vladyslav Bukhov’s previous record of 23.14 from January 2020. The swim was the 4th fastest in the event of 2020 worldwide:

Top 5 Long Course 50 Butterfly Performances (2020)

  1. Oleg Kostin – 22.82
  2. Nicholas Santos – 22.95
  3. Szebasztian Szabo – 22.96
  4. Andrei Minakov – 23.05
  5. Andrii Govorov – 23.07

Two days later, Minakov took out Kyle Chalmers’ 100 freestyle world junior record by just 0.01 seconds, lowering it from a 47.58 to a 47.57. In a year where long course racing was scarce, Minakov’s 100 freestyle was actually the top time worldwide and the only sub-48 swim in the event:

Top 5 Long Course 100 Freestyle Performances (2020)

  1. Andrei Minkov – 47.57
  2. Nandor Nemeth – 48.08
  3. Alessandro Miressi – 48.15
  4. Vlad Morozov – 48.32
  5. Vlad Grinev – 48.33

Minakov’s third WJR of the year was in the short course version of the 50 fly. At the 2020 Russian Short Course Championships, Minkov swam under the FINA-set benchmark of 22.43 to set the first-ever world junior record in the event at 22.34. That swim for Minakov ranked him as #6 in the world in 2020:

Top 5 Short Course 50 Butterfly Performances (2020)

  1. Nicholas Santos – 21.78
  2. Szebasztian Szabo – 21.86
  3. Caeleb Dressel – 22.04
  4. Takeshi Kawamoto – 22.19
  5. Tom Shields – 22.32
  6. Andrei Minakov – 22.34
  7. Nyls Korstanje – 22.35
  8. Hryhory Pekarski – 22.40

For these performances, Minakov earned his 2nd straight Swammy Award for World Jr Male of the Year.

2021 European Championships (Budapest, Hungary)

Minakov took medals in the 100 free (bronze, 47.74), 400 free relay (gold) and 400 medley relay (silver).

International Medals

Place Event Year Meet
Silver 100 Fly 2019 World Championships
Bronze 400 Medley Relay 2019 World Championships
Gold 400 Freestyle Relay 2021 European Championships
Silver 400 Medley Relay 2021 European Championships
Bronze 100 Free 2021 European Championships
Gold 100 Free 2019 World Junior Championships
Gold 100 Fly 2019 World Junior Championships
Gold 400 Medley Relay 2019 World Junior Championships
Silver 50 Fly 2019 World Junior Championships
Silver 400 Freestyle Relay 2019 World Junior Championships
Silver 400 Mixed Free Relay 2019 World Junior Championships
Silver 400 Mixed Medley Relay 2019 World Junior Championships

Best Times

Course Event Time Date Meet
scy 50 Free 20.43 12/01/17 2017 PN AP 69th Annual Husky Invite
Federal Way, Washington
scy 100 Free 43.94 12/03/17 2017 PN AP 69th Annual Husky Invite
Federal Way, Washington
scy 100 Fly 46.59 12/02/17 2017 PN AP 69th Annual Husky Invite
Federal Way, Washington
lcm 50 Free 22.77 08/04/18 2018 Summer Junior Nats
Irvine, California
lcm 100 Free 47.57 10/30/20 2020 Russian National Champs
Kazan, Russia
lcm 50 Fly 23.05 10/28/20 2020 Russian National Champs
Kazan, Russia
lcm 100 Fly 50.83 07/27/19 World Championships
Gwangju, Korea
scm 50 Fly 22.34 12/18/20 2020 Russian SC Championships
St. Petersburg, Russia
scm 100 Fly 50.33 12/14/20 2020 Russian SC Championships
St. Petersburg, Russia
Andrei Minakov and Alexei Sancov (photo: Jack Spitser) Alexei Sancov and Andrei Minakov (photo: Jack Spitser) Andrei Minakov (photo: Jack Spitser) Andrei Minakov (photo: Jack Spitser) Andrei Minakov (photo: Jack Spitser) Andrei Minakov (photo: Jack Spitser) Andrei Minakov (photo: Jack Spitser)