Pavel Paulavich Sankovich (Belarusian: Павел Паўлавіч Санковіч; born 29 June 1990) is a Belarusian swimmer, who specialized in sprint backstroke and butterfly events.[1][2] He represented his native Belarus in three editions of the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 and 2016), and has won a total of seven bronze medals in major international competition, in both the long and short course European Championships.[1][3]
Career
Early years
Sankovich made his first Belarusian team, as an 18-year-old, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, competing in both the 100 m backstroke and the medley relay. Leading up to the Games, he broke a Belarusian record and cleared a FINA B-cut of 56.10 at the Belarusian National Championships in Minsk.[4] In the 100 m backstroke, Sankovich came second in his heat behind Colombia's Omar Pinzón by 0.28 of a second with 55.39 seconds, but failed to advance to the semifinals, finishing twenty-ninth out of 45 entrants in the prelims.[5] Few days later, he joined with Yauheni Lazuka, Viktar Vabishchevich, and two-time Olympian Stanislau Neviarouski for the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay. Swimming the backstroke leg, Sankovich recorded a time of 55.11 seconds, and the Belarusian team went on to finish the heats in sixteenth place, for a total time of 3:39.39.[6]
Four years after competing in his last Olympics, Sankovich qualified for his second Belarusian team, as a 22-year-old, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by eclipsing a FINA B-standard entry time of 54.56 in the men's 100 m backstroke.[7][8] He was third heat of his 100 m backstroke, and won it with a new Belarusian record of 54.53, but narrowly missed a spot in the semifinals by one hundredth of a second (0.01) behind Olympic veteran Aristeidis Grigoriadis, placing eighteenth out of 43 swimmers in the prelims.[9] In the 100 m butterfly, Sankovich finished the race in thirty-fourth overall by seven hundredths of a second (0.07) behind Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry with 53.47.[10]
Post-London era
In January 2013, Sankovich attended the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, where he majored in social science.[11] While swimming for the Florida State Seminoles under head coach Frank Bradley, Sankovich had obtained a total of five individual event All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, and set five university records for two consecutive seasons in the 100 m backstroke, 100 m butterfly, and 200 m individual medley.[12]
Sankovich showed a tremendous improvement on the international scene at the 2014 European Championships in Berlin, Germany, overhauling the 52-second barrier in the 100 m butterfly to produce his own lifetime best (51.92) and collect his first ever bronze medal of the meet.[13][14] The 2015 season brought a stellar feat for Sankovich, as he swam a career best and the world's third fastest time (51.57) in the 100 m butterfly at the Belarus Open, but could not beat his rival Yauhen Tsurkin, who was faster by 0.13 of a second, lowering the Belarusian record.[15]
At the 2016 Olympics, he took part in the 100 m butterfly, finishing in 28th place.[2]
Pavel is now co-owner (with his wife) of the United Swim Club in Tallahassee and was named in 2019 as the head swim coach for Maclay School in Tallahassee, Florida.
