Career
He is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), and a former Kyrgyzstan record holder in the 50 and 100 m freestyle. Ashihmin became one of the first swimmers from Kyrgyzstan to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta since the post-Soviet era. In 1998, Ashihmin shared silver medals with Popov, Pimankov, and Roman Yegorov for Russia in the sprint freestyle relay (3:1799), when the United States. hosted again the Goodwill Games in New York City.
At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Ashihmin competed again in four swimming events.
He posted FINA B-standards of 23.55 (50 m freestyle) and 51.20 (100 m freestyle) from the Russian National Championships in Moscow. In the 100 m freestyle, Ashihmin placed thirty-fourth on the morning prelims.
Swimming in heat six, he shared a third seed with Greece"s Spyridon Bitsakis in a matching time of 51.28. Two days later, in the 50 m freestyle, Ashihmin challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including Kazakhstan"s top sprinter Sergey Borisenko.
He came up short in second place and forty-first overall with a time of 23.53, trailing Borisenko by seven hundredths of a second (007).
