Lenny Krayzelburg (born September 28, 1975, as Leonid Krayzelburg; Ukrainian: Леонід Крайзельбург, Russian: Леонид Крайзельбург) is an American backstroke swimmer, and Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He won a total of 4 Olympic gold medals.
Krayzelburg is Jewish, and was born to Jewish parents in Odessa (then Soviet Union, now Ukraine). Krayzelburg and his family left the Soviet Union i...
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Lenny Krayzelburg (born September 28, 1975, as Leonid Krayzelburg; Ukrainian: Леонід Крайзельбург, Russian: Леонид Крайзельбург) is an American backstroke swimmer, and Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He won a total of 4 Olympic gold medals.
Krayzelburg is Jewish, and was born to Jewish parents in Odessa (then Soviet Union, now Ukraine). Krayzelburg and his family left the Soviet Union in 1989 for the United States. They settled in Los Angeles.
After their immigration, Krayzelburg's family suffered from financial difficulties. He had to commute by bus and on foot 45 minutes each way to swimming practice, and did not get home before 9:30 in the evening. In addition, Lenny had to cope with language problems, and to study English rapidly in order to understand his coaches' instructions. Thankfully he was aided by the extensive Russian community in Los Angeles, and managed to adapt quickly.
Lenny first attended Santa Monica...
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