Otylia Jędrzejczak
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Otylia Jędrzejczak (born December 13 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She is the current world and Olympic champion in the 200 metre butterfly and holds the world record in that event. She took part in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics.
Jędrzejczak was born in Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodship, Poland. She started swimming at the age of six as a measure to correct a slight curvature of the spine. At first she hated the sport. Her attitude towards it changed after she had won her first prize in a competition in Germany at the age of eight. Jędrzejczak took up swimming seriously in high school. Led by coach Maria Jakóbik she won her first titles in the Junior European Championships in 1999. Medals in the Senior European Championships in 1999 and 2000 opened the way to her first Olympic appearance. Currently, Jędrzejczak is a student at the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw (Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego w Warszawie). Her coach is Paweł Słomiński. She stands 187 cm (6 ft 1½ in) tall and wears a size 11(US)/43(EU) shoe.
On 1 October 2005 she was injured in a car accident, which killed her 19-year-old brother, Szymon. She was driving, attempting to pass several long-haul trucks at high speed and crashed into a tree.
On 25 March 2006 she came back to competitive swimming, winning 200 m butterfly at an international meet featuring Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. She won in an admittedly slow time of 2:15.73 s, some 10 seconds slower than her own world record.
Achievements
- In 1999 she won the 100 m and 200 m butterfly titles during the Junior European Championships in Moscow and a bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly event in the Senior European Championships in Istanbul.
- In 2000 she won gold in the 200 m butterfly and silver in the 100 m butterfly in the European Championships in Helsinki.
- In the 2000 Summer Olympics she placed 5th in the 200 m butterfly.
- In 2001 she placed second in the 100 m butterfly event in the World Championships in Fukuoka.
- On 4 August 2002 she established a new world record in the 200 m butterfly with a time of 2:05.78 during the European Championships in Berlin. Except the 200m title, she won a silver medal in the 100 m butterfly event.
- During the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona she placed first in the 200 m butterfly and second in the 100 m butterfly.
- In the 2004 European Championships in Madrid she defended her 200 m butterfly title and placed third in the 100 m butterfly event.
- During the 2004 Summer Olympics she won three medals: silver in the 400 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly, and gold in the 200 m butterfly. This equals her in the number of medals earned during single Olympic games with the legendary Polish athlete Irena Szewińska.
- After winning bronze in the 100 m butterfly during the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Jędrzejczak managed to defend her title in the 200 m butterfly event on 29 July 2005. In the final she improved her own world record with a time of 2:05.61 to beat Australian Jessicah Schipper by only 0.04 s. After the race it was disputed that Jędrzejczak touched the finishing wall with only one hand (with video replays confirming this), which according to International Swimming Federation rules would be grounds for an automatic disqualification. But since this was not noticed by the judges and no complaints were filed within 30 minutes of the race, her result has been approved.
Olympic Games gold medal auction
Jędrzejczak owes her Olympic gold medal success to a brilliant finish in the last quarter of the 200 metre distance, which allowed her to overtake Australian Petria Thomas, who led the race for over 150 metres.After the race Jędrzejczak revealed, that during the pre-olympic trials in Athens in June she had declared that if she won a gold medal in the Olympics, she would auction it off and hand the proceeds to a charity helping children suffering from leukemia.
The results of the internet auction were announced on the 19 December 2004 with Victoria Cymes, a Polish food company, turning out to be the highest bidder with 257,550 zlotys (about 82,437 USD). The money was handed over to the Oncology and Haematology Clinic of Wrocław's Children's Hospital.
World championship results
- 2003 World Aquatics Championships: silver medal in the 100 m butterfly
- 2003 World Aquatics Championships: gold medal in the 200 m butterfly
- 2003 World Aquatics Championships: silver medal in the 100 m butterfly
- 2005 World Aquatics Championships: bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly
- 2005 World Aquatics Championships: gold medal in the 200 m butterfly
Latest 10 world records in the 200 metre
- 2:09.87 Andrea Pollack (DDR) 4.7.1978 in St. Petersburg
- 2:09.87 Tracey Caulkins (USA) 26.8.1978 in Berlin
- 2:09.77 Mary T. Meagher (USA) 7.7.1979 in San Juan
- 2:08.41 Mary T. Meagher (USA) 16.8.1979 in Fort Lauderdale
- 2:07.01 Mary T. Meagher (USA) 16.8.1979 in Fort Lauderdale
- 2:06.37 Mary T. Meagher (USA) 30.7.1980 in Irvine
- 2:05.96 Mary T. Meagher (USA) 13.8.1981 in Brown Deer
- 2:05.81 Susie O'Neill (AUS) 17.5.2000 in Sydney
- 2:05.78 Otylia Jędrzejczak (POL) 4.8.2002 in Berlin
- 2:05.61 Otylia Jędrzejczak (POL) 28.7.2005 in Montréal
External link
| Olympic medalists in swimming (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 200 m Butterfly |
|---|
| 1968: Ada Kok | 1972: Karen Moe | 1976: Andrew Pollack | 1980: Ines Geissler | 1984: Mary T. Meagher | 1988: Kathleen Nord | 1992: Summer Sanders | 1996: Susie O'Neill | 2000: Misty Hyman | 2004: Otylia Jedrzejczak |
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