Petr Mshveniradze - Georgian player in water polo

Georgian water polo player Peter Mshveniradze defended the colors of the national team at international competitions of various levels. In his sports career there were also Olympic awards and medals of the European championships. Fifteen years in the national team of the Union is a whole epoch in the development of water polo.

Champion from Georgia

Petr Yakovlevich Mshveniradze was born in the capital of Soviet Georgia on March 24, 1929. Like all boys, Peter from childhood was fond of various sports. Football, basketball, athletics - all these sports did not pass by a Georgian teenager. However, in 1943, a fourteen-year-old boy was noticed by Luka Alexandrovich Yakimily and invited Peter to the capital pool of the Dynamo Society. The following year, as part of the Georgian men's swimming team, Pyotr Mshveniradze becomes the champion of the Union championship in swimming breaststroke at a distance of 100 and 200 meters.

Invitation to Moscow

However, the main sport for the Georgian guy was water polo. In 1946 Tbilisi "Dynamo" invites Peter to join his ranks. The first result is the sixth place in the championship of the Union. The sports nugget was soon noticed by the son of the leader of all peoples Vasily Stalin and was invited to the water polo team of the Air Force (Moscow), which was under his patronage. At that time, Vasily Stalin was Commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. The Moscow water polo team of the Air Force played the stars of that time: Vladimir Semyonov and Boris Goichman. As part of the Moscow team, Pyotr Mshveniradze becomes the 10-time champion of the internal championships of the Soviet Union.

The trial of the Georgian water polo player

Despite the fact that in the Moscow team the Georgian water polo player becomes the champion of the country, he understands that the prospects for him in the artificially created team of VI. There are no Stalin.

P.Ya. Mshvenididze decides to return to his native Tbilisi "Dynamo". However, the actions of a civilian player in the team of the almighty son of the father of all nations were considered unlawful, and Petr Mshveniidze was brought to trial. At the court session, which lasted four hours, there was a whole team from Georgia and personally Lieutenant-General Vasily Stalin. Although the actions of the Georgian athlete were justified, however, as part of the Moscow Air Force team, Peter Yakovlevich played until 1963.

Peter Mshveniradze: Georgian player in water polo

The debut performance of P.Ya. Mshveniradze as a member of the USSR national team took place in 1949 against the team of water polo players of Czechoslovakia. After playing with the Hungarian team in 1951, at that time the strongest water polo players in the world, Peter Mshveniradze met Hungarian coach Istvan Sivosh, who became his teacher in sports.

I. Sivosh recommended the athlete to strengthen his legs in order to become a great water polo player. Following the recommendations of the Hungarian specialist, all the free time the athlete spends in the gym. Exercises with a weightlifting bar and cores allowed the young athlete to develop unique physical abilities. Possessing a diverse arsenal of throws, P. Mshveniradze was able in any situation to hit the opponent's gate. This quality allowed the athlete to gain authority among his comrades, and soon Peter becomes captain of the national team. Ahead of the victory at the intra-Union championships and participation in the Olympic Games in Melbourne (Australia).

Blood in the pool

Semifinal match between the national teams of the USSR and Hungary at the Olympics in Melbourne was held on December 6, 1956. The situation before the game was heated to the limit. Just a month before the game in water polo, the Hungarian uprising happened , which was suppressed by Soviet troops. This event could not leave indifferent players of the Hungarian national team.

The victory of water polo players from Hungary over the USSR team with a score of 3-0 was not limited to sports interest only. The whole world went around sensational photos, when Hungarian striker Deceme Dyarmati dealt an unexpected blow to the captain of the USSR national team. Pyotr Mshveniradze as a real captain of the Soviet national team did not respond to the Hungarian insolent trick, he calmly washed the blood off his face. However, a second stroke followed in the chin, after which a fight broke out in the Olympic pool between the athletes.

By decision of the judiciary, the semi-final game of the Olympians was stopped, and the USSR national team was defeated. The Olympic awards of the highest standard remained an unrealizable dream for Soviet athletes. Melbourne's bronze medals are the result of the Soviet water polo school. Despite the outcome of the Olympic meeting of the two national teams, Peter Mshveniradze - the only one from the Soviet team was awarded the title of "Honored Master of Sports of the Soviet Union".

Silver pedestal of the Roman Olympics

The leadership of the country had high hopes for the participation of the Soviet water polo team in the Olympic Rome (1960). Preparedness of athletes was at the highest level. The 17th Olympic Games in the Italian capital were to be a triumph for Soviet water polo players. The national team included the best athletes:

• Vyacheslav Kurennoy;
• Vladimir Semyonov;
• Victor Ageyev;
• Anatoly Kartashov;
• Givi Chikvaniya;
• Vladimir Novikov;
• Boris Goichman;
• Peter Mshveniradze (captain);
• Leri Gogoladze;
• Yevhen Salsin;
• Yuri Grigorovsky;

These athletes represented the water polo elite of the Soviet Union. However, the annoying defeat of the hosts of the Olympics, the Italian team, did not allow Soviet athletes to climb the gold pedestal of the main sport event of the four-year period. The USSR water polo players lost to the Italians, and the silver medals of the Olympic Games were considered a great disappointment for the athletes.

Peter Mshveniradze: height, weight, interesting facts

Sports stubbornness and extraordinary physical data, height - 198 cm, weight - 100 kg allowed the athlete to achieve significant results:

• "Bronze" of the Olympics in Melbourne (1956).
• Olympic "silver" in Rome (1960).
• Silver and bronze medalist European championships in 1958 and 1962 respectively.
• Winner of the USSR Cup in 1949.
• Ten-times champion of the Soviet Union.
• Silver medalist of the three championships of the USSR.
• Captain of the USSR water polo team from 1953 to 1963.

For the national team of the Union P.Ya. Mshveniradze spent 212 games and scored 300 goals, completing his sports career in 1964. Remarkable is the fact that both sons of Peter Mshveniradze were born on "Olympic" days: the oldest son of Nuzgar Petrovich during the Olympics in Helsinki (Finland), and younger Georgy Mshveniradze during the Roman Olympic battles.

The Georgian water polo player for his life has achieved considerable results not only in sports. After graduating from the Faculty of Law of Tbilisi University and having obtained the degree of Candidate of Juridical Sciences in 1967, he for a long time taught criminal law at the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, having the military rank-colonel of internal troops. All these years, Peter Yakovlevich was closely associated with the sport. For many years he was the chairman of the Moscow Federation of the Water Floor and the deputy chairman of the Union Federation. Two times a Georgian water polo player was awarded state awards - the Order of the Badge of Honor.

The last year of life

At the end of December 2002, a patient with a diagnosis of acute leukemia entered the Moscow Institute of Hematology. All sessions of chemotherapy do not bring a positive result. The state of Peter Yakovlevich is deteriorating every day. German and Russian experts dissuade the relatives of the patient from treatment in Germany because of the hopelessness of the situation. After a sudden onset of pneumonia, the chances of recovery were completely lost. On the night of June 3, 2003, the heart of the legendary water polo player stopped beating.

Buried P.Ya. Mshveniradze in Moscow, at the Troekurovsky cemetery. Unfortunately, the book about the water polo player Peter Mshveniradze, written by himself, has never been published.