Danila Izotov
Born Oct. 2, 1991 Danila Izotov is a Russian swimmer and Olympic medalist. Izotov is a short-distance freestyle swimmer, specializing in the 100m and 200m distances. He’s actually coached by his father, Sergey Alexandrovich Izotov, and has been a member of Russia’s National Team since 2008. Described as long and lanky, Izotov studied at the Ural State Pedagogical University (USPU) Yekaterinburg in the Institute of Physical Culture.
Beijing Olympics
In 2007 Izotov won the 200m freestyle at the Russian National Championships as just a teenager; but a year later Izotov competed at his first Olympic Games in 2008. He picked up a silver medal as a member of Russia’s 800m freestyle relay.
2009 World Championships
In Rome, Izotov was the only Russian to win an individual medal. It came in the 200 meter freestyle where he won bronze in 1:43.90 behind Paul Biedermann and Michael Phelps. He also won silver medals as a member of Russia’s 4×100 and 4×200 meter freestyle relays.
Shoulder injury
In 2012 it was revealed that Izotov had undergone shoulder surgery, and he eventually missed the end of the 2012 season including the FINA World Cup and the Short Course World Championships. The injury was exposed after the 2012 London Olympics, where he finished eighth in the 200m freestyle and third in the 800m freestyle relay.
World Record holder
Within the next year after Beijing, the 6’4″ Izotov competed around the world, winning medals at the 2009 World Championships. Izotov also set a world record as a member of the Short Course 400m medley relay. He was the only Russian to win an individual medal when he won a bronze in the 200m freestyle. But since 2009, Izotov has been in a bit of a plateau.
2013 comeback
After his shoulder recovery in 2012, Izotov swam at the 2013 Russian Cup, where he won the 200m freestyle and finished second in the 100m freestyle. Izotov also swam at the 2013 World Championships, and after not medaling as an individual since 2010, he won bronze in the 200m freestyle, and won a silver medal in the 800m freestyle relay, which he led-off. Izotov also picked up medals at the European Short Course Championships.
2013 was a bit of a revival for Izotov, but he suffered from another shoulder injury in 2014, which kept him off of the 2014 European Championships roster. Izotov had a great meet at the 2014 Russian Nationals, swimming a world-ranked time in the 100m freestyle and split in the 200m freestyle.
2015 World Championships
In Kazan, Izotov was a member of Russia’s 4×200 meter freestyle relay that finished in 4th place. He also swam in the 200 meter freestyle where he finished 15th in the semi-final in 1:47.66.
2016 Olympic Games
In Rio, Izotov swam on the 4×100 free relay in both prelims and finals. After prelims, Russia was the top seed headed into finals, however in finals they fell to 4th place, just outside of medaling.
2017 World Championships
Izotov won a silver medal as a member of Russia’s 4×200 meter freestyle relay. He swam the third leg in 1:45.97 to put Russia in second place behind USA. Aleksandr Krasnykh swam the final leg and overtook USA but Great Britain’s James Guy passed both teams to win the gold.
2018 European Championships
Though he got 9th in his individual event (100 free), Izotov walked out of Glasgow with 3 medals, 1 of each color. He went 2nd on Russia’s winning 4×100 free relay, 3rd on their 2nd place 4×200 free relay, and capped it off with a bronze in the 4×100 mixed free relay.
