Georgia: A tournament dedicated to the 60th anniversary of veteran water polo player and President of the National Federation of Endangered Species of Georgia, Alexander Nikolaishvili, is taking place at the Olympic Swimming Complex.
Georgian Ministry of Culture and Sports congratulates Alexander Nikolaishvili on his birthday and wishes him success. Teams of water polo players up to 14 years old from different regions of Georgia participate in the three-day competition.
The tournament’s opening was attended by Irakli Medzmariashvili, Deputy Head of the Sports and Youth Affairs Department of Georgia’s Ministry of Culture and Sports Giorgi Arabuli, and veteran water polo players.
Alexander Nikolaishvili started learning to swim with coach Alexander Safronov at the Sairma swimming pool. In 1977, at Vake swimming pool, water polo club “Dinamo” trained with coach Boris Meged. He was the captain of the USSR youth team.
From 1981 to 1988, the water polo club defended the dignity of Dinamo. Since 1989, he played in the Tbilisi State University water polo team, was the captain of this team, and the first champion of independent Georgia in water polo.
The water polo player has been the champion of Georgia many times, a winner of international tournaments, and the champion of “Dinamiad.” The athlete is also the founder of the training complex “Olympics.”
In 2020, Alexander Nikolaishvili was elected president of the National Federation of Sports of Georgia. During his presidency, in 2022, the Georgian team was among the eight best teams at the European Water Polo Championship, and the team took tenth place at the World Cup.
For the first time in history, water polo players won a bronze medal in the 2023 World University Games. Georgian divers received bronze at the Universiade for the first time in the history of independent Georgia.
