Career
Sergey Kopliakov moved into top ranks of world swimming in 1979, coming behind Vladimir Salnikov, Andrei Krylov and Volodymyr Raskatov, enabling the Soviet Union to fully compete in male freestyle with American champions in the late 1970s. Born in Orsha, Belarus" 11th-largest city, Kopliakov debuted in 1974, at the age of 15. His best time in 200 m that year was 1:53.37.
In 1977 he was very discreet, only got a fifth place in the 200 m of the European Championships.
In 1978, in the West Berlin World Championships, he finished third in the 200 m, behind two Americans with a time of 1:51.33 (new European record).