the team managers. In the early 1980s Salinikov was the absolute ruler of the freestyle races on the longer distances: in 1982 he retained his world titles, and one year later, at the URS Winter Nationals, he set a new world record in the 1,500 m with the time of 14:54.76: the record lasted until 1991, when it was beaten by the German Jörg Hoffmann (Salinikov's record had actually been beaten by Glen Housman in Adelaide in December 1989, but due to a malfunction with the electronic timing, his new record time was disallowed). The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, so Salnikov could not defend his title. Salnikov went back to Seoul in 1988, aged 28, when he was considered too old. He had set a world record in 1986 in the 800 m, but since then never returned to his former form: he finished fourth in the 1,500 m at the 1986 world championships, and failed to reach the final at the 1987 European championships. His pre-Olympic results did not meet the standards set for the Soviet Olympic team, and he was included in the team only by intervention of Soviet officials. Salnikov did not fail, and won the 1,500 meters race, though he later admitted that in that race he went flat out and swam the last 20–30 meters in a blackout state. That night when entering the Olympic Village restaurant he was awarded a standing ovation by the other athletes. His titles also include four World Championship gold medals, four European Championship gold medals and one European Championship silver medal. Coaches Igor Koshkin is credited with bringing Salnikov to the world-top level. Later in his career, Salnikov had a brief stay at Mission Viejo in the United States, where he worked with coaches Mark Shubert, Brian Goodell and Tim Shaw. In the mid-1980s, Salnikov parted with Koshkin, who thought that a 25-year-old swimmer had no further prospectives. Since 1984-5, he was coached by his wife Marina, a former Soviet track and field record holder in the 100 meters and a sports psychologist. After retirement After the 1988 Olympics Salnikov retired from competitions and until 1990 worked as the head coach of the Soviet swimming team. In parallel, between 1989 and 1991 he acted as vice-president of the Soviet Swimming Federation. In 1991–2001 he worked at the company Olimp and represented Speedo in