Denis Tarasov

Denis Tarasov

Personal information
Born	31 July 1989 Engels, Saratov Oblast, Russia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Club	Youth Adaptive Sports School Rehabilitation and Physical Education: Saratov
Coached by	Svetlana Borisovskaya
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	2012
Medal record Representing  Russia Paralympic Games 2012 London 50 m freestyle – S8 2012 London 100 m freestyle – S8 2012 London 100 m backstroke – S8 2012 London 4×100 m medley relay 34pts 2012 London 4×100 m freestyle relay 34pts IPC World Championships 2013 Montreal 50 m freestyle S8 2013 Montreal 100 m freestyle S8 2015 Glasgow 100 m freestyle relay 34pts 2015 Glasgow 100 m backstroke S8 2015 Glasgow 4x100 m medley relay 34pts 2015 Glasgow 50 m freestyle S8 2015 Glasgow 100 m freestyle S8 2015 Glasgow 100 m butterfly S8 2013 Montreal 100 m backstroke S8 2013 Montreal 100 m butterfly S8 2013 Montreal 4x100 m medley relay 34pts 2013 Montreal 4x50 m medley relay 20pts 2013 Montreal 4x100 m freestyle relay 34pts IPC European Championships 2014 Eindhoven 50m freestyle S8 2014 Eindhoven 100m freestyle S8 2014 Eindhoven 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts 2014 Eindhoven 4x100m medley relay 34pts 2016 Funchal 50m freestyle S8 2016 Funchal 100m freestyle S8 2016 Funchal 100 m butterfly – S8 2016 Funchal 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts 2016 Funchal 4x100m medley relay 34pts 2014 Eindhoven 400m freestyle S8 2014 Eindhoven 100m butterfly S8 2014 Eindhoven 100m backstroke S8

Denis Tarasov (born 21 July 1993) is a Paralympic swimmer from Russia competing mainly in category S8 events. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London he won five medals, including gold in the 50 metre freestyle S8 event. He has represented Russia at two IPC World Championships with a total of 12 medals. At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow he set four world records, two as part of Russian relay teams and two individual records, in the 50m and 100m freestyle S8 events.

Personal history

Tarasov was born in Engels, Saratov Oblast, Russia in 1993.^[1][2] He attends Saratov State University where he studies economics.^[1]

Career history

Tarasov began swimming at the age of six, after his parents took him to the local pool to improve his general health.^[1] He progressed to swimming competitively, joining the Youth Adaptive Sports School Rehabilitation and Physical Education Club in Saratov. Before 2012 Tarasov was officially categorized as a S8 (freestyle, butterfly and backstroke) and SB7 (breaststroke) swimmer.^[1]

In 2012 Tasarov competed in his first major international competition when he was selected for the Russian team at the Summer Paralympics in London. Tarasov entered six events, winning medals in five of them. The highlight of his Games was his gold in the 50 m freestyle – S8, where in the heats he posted a time of 25.92 a world record.^[3] In the final Tatasov beat his own world record when he finished in 25.82, beating Maurice Deelen of the Netherlands by almost half a second.^[4] Along with his gold he left London with three silver medals, 100 m freestyle S8, 100 m backstroke S8, 4 × 100 m medley relay 34pts and a bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34pts.^[1]

The following year Tarasov was reselected to represent his country at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal. There he successfully defended his place as the world's 50m freestyle champion posting a further world record of 25.81 in the final.^[5] He also added the 100m freestyle title and won three silvers in the 100m backstroke S8, 100m butterfly S8 and the 4x100 m medley relay (34pts) along with two bronze in the 4x50 m medley relay (20pts) and 4x100 m freestyle relay (34pts).^[6]

At the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships held in Eindhoven, Tarasov was entered for seven events, winning medals in each. In the 50m freestyle S8 he bettered his world record set in Montreal by almost half a second, recording a time of 25.32.^[7] He won gold and set a further world record in the 100m freestyle S8 (56.27) and added a further two gold medals in the team relays.^[1][8] Tasarov added two silvers in the 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle and a bronze in the 100m backstroke.^[1]

In 2015 Tasarov travelled to Glasgow to participate in his second IPC Swimming World Championships and defend his world titles in the 50m and 100m freestyle events. He entered six events, winning five gold medals and ended as the tournament's third most successful competitor behind Brazil's Daniel Dias (7 gold, 1 silver) and Belarusian Ihar Boki (6 gold, 1 silver).^[9] In his favoured 50m freestyle S8, he took gold setting a Championship record of 25.34, just outside his own world best. In three of his other medals world records were broken.^[10] He swam a time of 55.84 in the 100m freestyle S8 beating his own record set in Eindhoven, and he was part of two world record breaking team relay teams, the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and the 4 × 100 m medley relay.^[11][12][13] He completed his medal haul with gold in the 100m butterfly S8.^[1]

References

1. "Tarasov, Denis". IPC. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
2. "Tarasov, Denis: Biography overview". IPC. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
3. "Simmonds produces another stunner with new world record in 200m individual medley". Mail Online. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
4. "Paralympics 2012: day five as it happened". Telegraph. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
5. "Men's 50m Freestyle S8 Final". IPC. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
6. "Tarasov, Denis". IPC. 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
7. "Men's 50m Freestyle S8 Final" (pdf). IPC. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
8. "Men's 100m Freestyle S8 Final" (pdf). IPC. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
9. "Multi Medallists". IPC. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
10. "Results - Men's 50m Freestyle S8 Final". IPC. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
11. "Results - Men's 100m Freestyle S8 Final". IPC. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
12. "Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay 34pts" (pdf). IPC. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
13. "Men's 4x100m Medley Relay 34pts" (pdf). IPC. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.