Yevgeny Lagunov was born in 1985 in Arkhangelsk, Russia. He showed an early talent for swimming and joined the swimming school. Lagunov had great success in junior competitions and was admitted to the Russian national swimming team in 2003. His breakthrough came in 2004 when he won silver at the European Championships. Lagunov went on to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics and helped the Russian relay team make the finals. He achieved his greatest success at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won a silver medal as part of the Russian 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay team.