Nina Aleksandrovna Zhivanevskaya is a 5-time Olympic backstroke

Backstroke

The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

 swimmer from Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, who has swum for Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 since 1999, following her marriage to a Spaniard (and moving to Spain).

She swam at the 1992 Olympics

Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics

The Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, was a joint team consisting of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet republics. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania competed separately. The team has been informally called the Commonwealth of Independent States team, though Georgia was...

 for the Unified Team, Russia at the 1996 Olympics

Russia at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Russia competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the first time that the nation participated separately from the other former republics of the Soviet Union. Russia had been a member of the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics....

, and Spain at the 2000

Spain at the 2000 Summer Olympics

- Gold:* Juan Llaneras — Cycling, men's points race* Gervasio Deferr — Gymnastics, men's long horse vault* Isabel Fernández — Judo, women's lightweight - Silver:* Rafael Lozano — Boxing, light flyweight...

, 2004

Spain at the 2004 Summer Olympics

-Medalists:-Archery:Men's Individual Competition:*Felipe López — 46th placeWomen's Individual Competition:*Almudena Gallardo — 13th place-Athletics:Men's 110 m Hurdles:...

 and 2008 Olympics

Spain at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Spain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China with 286 athletes.-Medalists:- Archery:Spain sent one archer to the Olympics...

. At the 1992 Games, she won a bronze medal in the 4×100 m medley relay, and was the youngest member of the Unified Team swimming squad (18 men and 11 women), with 15 years and 35 days.

She won the bronze medal in the 100 m backstroke a year later at the 2000 Olympics

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, 32 swimming events were contested, between September 15–23, 2000. There was a total of 954 participants from 150 countries competing.-Medal table:-Men:...

 in Sydney, Australia.

Zhivanevskaya took part in the 2008 Olympic Games

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m backstroke. After this event, she announced she was retiring from the sport so that she could concentrate on her family.

See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
• List of Spanish records in swimming