Martina Moravcová (born 16 January 1976) is a Slovak medley, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer. She made her international swimming debut in 1991 for Czechoslovakia, and has gone on to compete in five consecutive Summer Olympics (1992–2008). She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist, both achieved at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In the 100-meter butterfly, she finished second to Inge de Bruijn, and in the 200-meter freestyle, she finished eight one-hundredths of a second to home favorite Susie O'Neill.
Early life
[edit]Martina Moravcová was born in 1976 in Piešťany. As a child, she liked to go to the swimming pool and swim in Váh river and when she became a young girl, participated in yachting on Sĺňava Lake.[1] In the 1990s she moved to Dallas, Texas, where she started attending Southern Methodist University.
Career
[edit]In 1999, she was named the NCAA's Women's Swimmer of the Year[2] While at SMU, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top female swimmer in 1999.[3][4] In 2002 and 2004, she was the top women's winner on FINA's World Cup series. Her 105 gold medals in this competition ranks her second all-time, behind Katinka Hosszú.[5]
In 2014 she became a coach of a Slovak Swimming Camp at which she helped 700 children to achieve their goals.[6]
Currently she is an assistant coach to Steve Collins at the Southern Methodist University[7] and is a mother to two children.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Zuzana Habšudová. "Martina Moravcová: The Slovak Fish". Travel Spectator Slovak. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ Moravcová's bio on the SMU Athletics website. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "Martina Moravcova Official Website". www.martinamoravcova.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Swimming & Diving". CWSA. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Moravcova Tops Final FINA World Cup Rankings; Balcerzak is Top American". Swimming World. 29 January 2001. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ a b "Martina Moravcová odovzdala svoje skúsenosti už 700 deťom". 22 August 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "SMU Mustang Swim Camp". SMU. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2019.