Andrey Dmitriyevich Minakov (; born 17 March 2002) is a Russian swimmer and Olympian."Andrei Minakov: Personal Best Results". FINA. Retrieved 21 September 2021. He is the Russian record holder in the long course 100 metre butterfly. He is a former world junior record holder in the long course and short course 50 metre butterfly and long course 100 metre freestyle. At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, he won silver medals in the 100 metre butterfly and 4×100 metre freestyle relay, and a bronze medal in the 4×100 metre medley relay. In 2021, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, he placed fourth in the 100 metre butterfly, fourth in the 4×100 metre medley relay, seventh in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay, and tenth in the 100 metre freestyle. He also won two gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals at the 2021 World Short Course Championships.FINA (21 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 31 January 2022. In 2022, he won the NCAA title in the 100 yard butterfly.
Background Minakov was raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia, though later in his youth he began splitting his time between Russia and California, training in the United States during the summer months each year. Collegiately, he started attending Stanford University in 2020, where he started competing as part of the Stanford Cardinal swim team in the fall of 2021, following a year of being redshirted (2020–2021).Lohn, John (15 October 2021). "Olympian Andrei Minakov Makes Stanford Debut As Cardinal Topple Utah". Swimming World. Retrieved 15 October 2021. The week Minakov announced his commitment to swimming for Stanford, the week of 3 December 2019, he ranked number one for "The Week That Was" honour from Swimming World.Ross, Andy (3 December 2019). "The Week That Was: Andrei Minakov Commits to Stanford, Caeleb Dressel, Meghan Haila Announce Engagement". Swimming World. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
In 2023, Minakov changed his region of representation for Russian competitions to the Republic of Tatarstan."Minakov on preparing for the Chechen Republic: 'Nothing has changed in training, but now I'm playing for Tatarstan'". athletistic.com. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
2018–2019 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
When he was 16 years old, Minakov competed at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, winning six gold medals and one silver medal.Binner, Andrew (13 October 2020). "Swimming star Andrei Minakov ready to take Russia 'to the next level' at Tokyo 2020". International Olympic Committee. 21 Retrieved September 2021. Minakov set a new national record of 51.12 seconds in the 100 metre butterfly and won the gold medal, touching ahead of silver medalist in the event Kristóf Milák of Hungary.Ortegon, Karl (9 October 2018). "Andrei Minakov Clips Russian Record In 100 Fly At YOGs". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 October 2021. In addition to the national record, Minakov helped set a new world junior record of 3:35.17 in the final of the 4×100 metre medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay and splitting a time of 51.14 seconds.Sutherland, James (10 October 2018). "2018 Youth Olympic Games: Day 4 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 October 2021. He won a gold medal in the 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay in 3:28.50, splitting a 49.60 for the second leg of the relay in the final.Omega Timing; Atos (12 October 2018). "Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games: Official Results Book Swimming". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 28 January 2022. In the 4×100 metre freestyle relay Minakov anchored the relay in 48.93 seconds, contributing to the final time of 3:18.11 with Kliment Kolesnikov, Daniil Markov, and Vladislav Gerasimenko.Pimer, Diana (9 October 2018). "2018 Youth Olympic Games Night Three Recap: Andrei Minakov Climbs World Ranks". Swimming World. Retrieved 28 January 2022."Eastern European swimmers rule in the pool". Olympics.com. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
For the 50 metre butterfly, Minakov won the gold medal with a time of 23.62 seconds, finishing 0.01 seconds ahead of Daniil Markov and Tomoe Hvas who tied for the silver medal. In the final of the 100 metre freestyle Minakov won the gold medal, finishing less than two tenths of a second ahead of the silver and bronze medalists in the event with a time of 49.23 seconds.Sica, James (12 October 2018). "2018 Youth Olympic Games Day Six Recap: Minakov Earns Sixth Gold Medal". Swimming World. Retrieved 28 January 2022. He split a 51.63 for the butterfly leg of the 4×100 metre mixed medley relay to help earn the silver medal in a time of 3:51.46 with Polina Egorova (backstroke), Anastasia Makarova (breaststroke), and Kliment Kolesnikov (freestyle).
2019 World Championships
In July 2019 at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Minakov won two silver medals and one bronze medal."18th FINA World Championships 2019: Results Book". Omega Timing. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2021. In the 100 metre butterfly, Minakov set a new national record for Russia in the semifinals with a time 50.94, advanced to the final ranked second overall, and became the first Russian in history to swim the race in less than 51 seconds.Sutherland, James (26 July 2019). "Andrei Minakov Becomes First Russian Sub-51 In 100 Fly". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 October 2021. The following day, during the final of the 100 metre butterfly, Minakov won the silver medal in a national record time of 50.83 seconds, touching the wall after first-place finisher Caeleb Dressel of the United States and before third-place finisher Chad le Clos of South Africa.Gibbs, Robert (27 July 2019). "Clips Own Russian Record In 100 Fly In Silver Medal Effort". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 October 2021. Minakov also won a silver medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay, swimming in the prelims heats, and helped win a bronze medal and set a new national record in the 4×100 metre medley relay at 3:28.81 with his relay teammates Evgeny Rylov (backstroke), Kirill Prigoda (breaststroke), and Vladimir Morozov (freestyle), splitting a 50.54 for the butterfly leg of the relay.
2019 World Junior Championships As part of the 4×100 metre medley relay at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August 2019, Minakov helped win the gold medal and break the world junior record he helped set in the event in 2018, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in 50.93 seconds and contributing to the new record time of 3:33.19.Ross, Andy (25 August 2019). "Russia Ends United States' Perfect Streak in Relays at World Juniors With World Junior Record in Men's 4×100 Medley Relay". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 October 2021. He also won a gold medal in the 100 metre freestyle with a 48.73, a silver medal in the 50 metre butterfly with a 23.39, a gold medal in the 100 metre butterfly in 51.25 seconds, a silver medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay at 3:16.26, a silver medal in the 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay with a 3:27.72, and contributed to winning the silver medal in the 4×100 metre mixed medley relay with a final time of 3:48.06.FINA (25 August 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019 Budapest (HUN): Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 28 January 2022. For his accomplishments, Minakov was named as one of two "Swimmer of the Championships" competitors along with Lani Pallister of Australia.Ross, Andy (25 August 2019). "Andrei Minakov, Lani Pallister Named Swimmers of the Meet at World Juniors". Swimming World. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
2020–2022: Redshirt and bans 2020 Russian Championships At the 2020 Russian National Championships held in at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan in October and conducted in long course metres, Minakov swam a personal best time of 47.57 seconds in the 100 metre freestyle and set a new world junior record in the event, breaking the former record of 47.58 seconds set by Kyle Chalmers of Australia when he won the gold medal in the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.Byrnes, Liz (30 October 2020). "Andrei Minakov Takes Down Chalmers' World Junior Record in 100 Free". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 October 2021. Earlier in the championships, he set a new world junior record in the semifinals of the 50 metre butterfly with a time of 23.05 seconds.Race, Retta (28 October 2020). "Minakov Breaks World Junior Record In 50 Fly In Russian Semi-Finals". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
2020–2021 Collegiate season: Redshirt For the 2020 to 2021 collegiate season, starting in the autumn of 2020 and ending in the spring of 2021, Minakov was redshirted by the Stanford Cardinal, and as such, chose to remain living in Russia, take classes online, and train in his home country.Ross, Andy (28 August 2020). "World Champs Medalist Andrei Minakov to Stay in Russia Ahead of Freshman Year of Stanford". Swimming World. Retrieved 3 November 2022. In December 2020, at the Russian National Championships conducted in short course metres, Minakov established a new world junior record in the short course 50 metre butterfly with a time of 22.34 seconds.Ross, Andy (18 December 2020). "Andrei Minakov Lowers World Junior Record in 50 Butterfly SCM". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 October 2021. One day earlier, day four of six of the Championships on 17 December, the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that Russians, including Minakov, were banned from competing at Olympic Games nor World Championships in any sport, including swimming, using the name of their country, their national anthem, nor their flag for two full years (through 16 December 2022).Dunbar, Graham (17 December 2020). "Russia can't use its name and flag at the next 2 Olympics". The Associated Press. Retrieved 4 November 2022.Wamsley, Laurel; Kennedy, Merrit (17 December 2020). "Russia Gets Its Doping Ban Reduced But Will Miss Next 2 Olympics". NPR. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
2020 European Championships In the final of the 4×100 metre freestyle relay at the 2020 European Aquatics Championships, held at Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary in May 2021, Minakov led-off the relay with a time of 48.18 seconds to help earn the gold medal in the event with a Championships record time of 3:10.41.LEN (17 May 2021). "LEN European Aquatics Championships Budapest - Hungary: Results 4 x 100m Freestyle Men Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 28 January 2022. For the 100 metre freestyle, Minakov won the bronze medal with a time of 47.74 seconds, finishing 0.37 seconds after gold medalist and fellow Russian Kliment Kolesnikov and 0.29 seconds after silver medalist Alessandro Miressi of Italy.LEN (19 May 2021). "LEN European Aquatics Championships Budapest - Hungary: Results 100m Freestyle Men Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 28 January 2022. Minakov won his third medal of the Championships in the 4×100 metre medley relay where he split a 47.41 for the freestyle leg of the relay in the final to contribute to the final time of 3:29.50 and help win the silver medal.LEN (23 May 2021). "LEN European Aquatics Championships Budapest - Hungary: Results 4 x 100m Medley Men Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
2020 Summer Olympics