Aikaterini "Katia" Sarakatsani ( gr, Αικατερίνη Σαρακατσάνη; born 3 January 1977) is a Greek swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), a former Greek record holder in the breaststroke, and a member of the swimming team for

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes a ...

at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, under head coach Vojko Race. Sarakatsani made her first Greek team, as a 19-year-old, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. She failed to reach the top 16 final in any of her individual events, finishing twenty-third in the 200 m individual medley (2:19.74), and twenty-fifth in the 400 m individual medley (4:56.32). She also placed twenty-second, as a member of the Greek team, in the 4×100 m medley relay (4:24.80). At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Sarakatsani competed only in the 200 m individual medley. Swimming in heat two, she raced to sixth place and thirtieth overall by 0.07 of a second behind Argentina's Maria Garrone in 2:23.05. When her nation hosted the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Sarakatsani decided to focus instead on the 100 m breaststroke. She posted a FINA B-standard entry time of 1:11.27 from the Mare Nostrum Swim Meet in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. She challenged seven other swimmers in heat five, including top medal favorites

Amanda Beard Amanda Ray Beard (born October 29, 1981), also known by her married name Amanda Brown, is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist (two gold, four silver, one bronze). She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststro ...

of the United States, and

Luo Xuejuan Luo Xuejuan (also Luo Xue Juan; ; born January 26, 1984, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is a female Chinese swimmer, who competed mostly in the breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the 50-meter breastroke (short course). Career She beg ...

of China. She rounded out the field to last place in 1:12.46, more than a second off her entry time. Sarakatsani ended her third Olympic stint by sharing a twenty-ninth place tie with Argentina's

Javiera Salcedo Javiera Salcedo (born November 29, 1977) is an Argentine former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She blasted an Argentine record of 1:11.79 to pull off a fifth-place effort in the Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women' ...

in the prelims. After a decade out of competitive swimming, Sarakatsani began to train for a possible twelve-year Olympic comeback and her fourth Games in 2014 under the aquatics club Ionikos Nikaias.

References

External links

2004 Olympic Profile – Eideisis Ellinika

Player Bio – Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarakatsani, Aikaterini 1977 births Living people Greek female swimmers Olympic swimmers of Greece Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Greek female breaststroke swimmers Greek female medley swimmers Swimmers from Athens Hawaii Rainbow Wahine swimmers University of Hawaiʻi alumni PAOK swimmers 20th-century Greek women 21st-century Greek women