Vladimir Bure is one of the legends of Soviet swimming, who has won four Olympic medals. After leaving the big sport, he went overseas and worked as a physical training coach in the clubs of the National Hockey League, where his famous sons, Valery and Pavel Bure, performed.
Biography: early years
Vladimir Valerievich Bure was born on December 4, 1950 in Norilsk. His father was a famous water polo player who successfully played for the Soviet national team from 1929 to 1936. Then he was repressed, as he himself said, for an anecdote about Stalin and was exiled to cold Norilsk.
There Valery Bure worked at a local metallurgical plant, and also taught in the swimming section. Vladimir's mother was a secretary at one of the city's industrial enterprises, and before marriage she was known in Norilsk as a talented jazz singer.
In an interview, Vladimir noted that it was his father who taught him everything. He never pampered his son with compliments. Even if Vladimir showed excellent results in training or competition, his father always said that he could have done better. Thanks to this, he had the motivation to improve further, and not to stop there. Later, Vladimir admits that he similarly raised his sons, who became legendary hockey players.
In 1956, Valery Bure was rehabilitated, and the family moved from the harsh Norilsk to their native Moscow. There, Vladimir's father began to actively develop synchronized swimming. He organized a spectacular show in the Luzhniki pool, which was attended by half of Moscow. Of course, he introduced his two sons to swimming. Vladimir's elder brother - Alexey - later concentrated on scuba diving. He soon became the world record holder and European champion.
Vladimir's first coach was his father. He also worked with Leonid Ilyichev, who subsequently adequately represented the USSR at various competitions. Vladimir specialized in freestyle. Initially, he swam long distances, and Leonid - short ones. However, he later learned to effectively use the physical capabilities of his body, which led to a significant improvement in the results of sprint swimming.
Career
Vladimir's first "serious" performance took place in 1966 at the All-Union Championship. Then he was 16 years old. He sailed third at a distance of 1500 m. A year later, Bure was third again, but at a different distance - 400 m. In 1968, Vladimir became the USSR champion in the 1500 m swim. He also showed the third result at a distance of 200 m.
The heyday of Vladimir Bure's sports career came in 1971-1975. During this period, he was the undisputed leader of the USSR championship.
In 1968, Vladimir won his first Olympic award - "bronze". He received it for the 4x200 m relay. At the next Games, Bure took as many as three Olympic awards. In his piggy bank were two "bronzes": at a distance of 100 m and in the relay 4x200 m. He also won a silver award in the relay 4x100 m.
Vladimir Bure has set European records in freestyle swimming five times. In 1970 he became the champion of the Old World.
In 1974 his father passed away. He began to train under the guidance of his older brother. However, after the death of his father, Vladimir's career gradually began to decline.
After the Spartakiad-79 Bure, where he took "silver" in the relay, decided to retire from the big swimming. By that time, he was going through hard times in his personal life. All this left an imprint on his sports career.
In the same year, Vladimir began coaching at the CSKA club. In parallel, he tried himself in sports journalism. So, he took notes in Moskovsky Komsomolets, hosted programs on the Mayak radio station, and commented on various swimming tournaments on television, including competitions at the Moscow Olympics-80.
In the mid-80s, his services on television were abandoned. This happened due to the revealed details of his personal life. They refused to accept Vladimir into the party when they learned about his daughter, born out of wedlock. A non-partisan person in those days had a hard time, he was not expected anywhere. And Bure decided to leave for the States. At first, he was an agent for his sons, who got a good job in the NHL clubs.
In 2010, Vladimir returned to Russia at the invitation of his longtime friend Vyacheslav Fetisov. He became vice president of the CSKA hockey club. Bure held this post for two years.
In 2015, Vladimir became the fitness coach of the Belarus hockey team. After suffering a stroke, he left this position.
Personal life
Behind Vladimir Bure's shoulders are two official marriages. He met his first wife Tatyana in 1968. She was a simple spectator at international competitions that took place in Minsk. An affair lasted two years between them. Tatyana at that time lived in Minsk, and Vladimir - in Moscow. They saw each other only occasionally, mostly called back and corresponded. Soon Tatyana arrived in Moscow. Vladimir's father was against his son's early brother, who showed great promise in sailing. However, he soon resigned himself and allowed his son to marry.
In 1971, the first son, Vladimir, was born. Valery was born three years later. Tatiana and Vladimir have lived together for 9 years. The marriage collapsed due to treason. Tatyana learned that her husband has an illegitimate daughter, Natalya, with whose mother he has a long affair. Since then, the relationship with the sons cooled, and later finally deteriorated. There was a time when Valery and Pavel stopped communicating with their father altogether.
Bure left the family, but never married his mistress. She stayed in Moscow, and he soon left for the States. There Vladimir got married a second time. In 1996, his daughter Ekaterina was born.
He currently lives in the States. His two daughters and son Valery are also there.
