Aleksandr (Alexander) Popov, known by a variety of nicknames - "Sasha", "The Russian rocket","Ice Man", and "Big Dog"- is a Russian former Olympic gold medalist swimmer and he is regarded as one of the greatest sprint freestyle swimmers of all time. Popov took up swimming at the age of eight at the Children and Youth Sports School, and at that time, he was afraid of water, but his father insisted on him taking swimming lessons. Popoc started out as a backstroke swimmer and switched to freestyle only in 1990 when he joined Gennadi Touretski's squad. He later moved from Russia to Australia to be with his coach.
