ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 20. LAST week, Russian breaststroke star Vladimir Kosinsky passed away at the age of 66 on July 14.
Kosinsky was a three-time Olympic medalist for the Soviet Union during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He took silver in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events, and helped the Soviet Union's 400 medley relay squad to bronze.
Kosinksy was selected to Soviet team after he had won silver in 200 breaststroke at the 1964 Soviet championships. In 1965, Kosinsky won his second medal, a bronze in 4×100 medley relay, at the Soviet championships, but did not medal domestically in 1966 and was not selected to the Soviet 1966 European championships team.
1967 was probably the best for Kosinsky as a swimmer, but as there were no international championships in that year, Kosinsky had to settle only with three golds (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 400 medley relay) at the Soviet championships. He also posted his first world record (1:06.7 in 100 breaststroke) in 1967.
In 1968, Kosinsky swam his second and last world record (2:27.4 in 200 breaststroke) and despite winning only silver in 200 breaststroke at the Soviet championships, he was quite successful at his second international meet, where he won three medals: two individual silvers and a relay bronze.
Kosinsky also competed at the 1970 European Championships and at the 1972 Olympic Games, but not successfully and he was not overly successful also in Soviet championships, winning only silver in 200 breaststroke in 1972.
Kosinsky retired from competition after the 1972 Olympics and later worked as a swimming coach with Lokomotiv Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).