Alexei Akatiev
Aleksey Akatyev (also Alexei Akatiev) is a marathon swimmer from Russia who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009.
Aleksey (Alexei) was the first Russian to transition from a world-class pool swimmer to a world-class marathon swimmer. After competing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in Atlanta in two events, he won the 5K and 25 races at the 1998 World Swimming Championships. He later established an open water school in Russia and served as the Russian national open water swim coach. At the 2000 World Open Water Swimming Championships, he not only coached the team (including the Russian 5K gold medalist and 25K gold medalist), but also swam to a bronze medal in the 25K, just over a minute slower than the swimmer he was coaching. He won the following medals at the FINA World Championships: 1994 25K bronze, 1998 5K gold, 1998 25K gold, 1998 5K team silver, 2000 25K bronze. He won the following medals at the LEN European Championships: 1995 5K gold, 1995 25K gold, 1996 5K gold, 1996 25K gold, 1999 5K silver, 1999 25K gold. He won the following medals on the FINA World Cup Series: 1999 30K gold in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia), 2000 25K gold in Bled (Slovenia), 2000 30K bronze in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia).
