SW Missouri State, Northwestern Swimmers Earn Bulgarian Spots

A country known for its weightlifters hiring themselves out to represent other countries will have a bit of an American flavor when it heads to Greece.

SMS will be represented in the Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece, next month with the qualification of Bears’ swimmer Raichin Antonov to the Olympic team from his home country of Bulgaria. He'll be joined on the team by Mike Alexandrov, Northwestern's 53.44 breaststroker.

Antonov, a three-year SMS letterman who will be a senior for the Bears of coach Jack Steck in 2004-05, has qualified for the Bulgarian Olympic team in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events.

A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Antonov has been the Bears’ top freestyle sprinter for the past two seasons. He won the 100-yard butterfly title and took second in both freestyle sprints in the Missouri Valley Conference championship in 2003.

Alexandrov is also from Sofia though his high school days were spent in Champaign, Illinois. His fater Plamen was a Bulgarian Olympian in 1980.

Antonov had been a member of the Bulgarian national team since 1996 when he came to SMS. He won national titles in the 100 freestyle in 2001 and 100-yard butterfly in 2000. He also finished as national runner-up in the 50, 200 and 400-yard freestyle events.

Antonov will become the second SMS swimmer to participate in Olympic competition. Former Bear Roberto Bonilla swam for Guatemala in the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain.