[2] In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Balandin won a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke, setting up new national record with 2:07.46.

[3] Balandin emerged as an unexpected medal contender at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where he competed in all breaststroke events.

In the men's 200 m breaststroke, Balandin moved from a top seed in the prelims to stun the entire crowd and crush the twelve-year-old meet record set by Japanese swimmer and four-time Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima in a time of 2:07.67 for the gold medal, jumping him into third in the world rankings.

Additionally, he raced his stretch to overhaul a minute barrier for the first time in Asian Games history.

[8][9] In 2016, a new pool was opened and named after Dmitry Balandin at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Alma-Ata.