Anna Stylianou ( gr, Άννα Στυλιανού; born May 20, 1986) is a Cypriot swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events.
Stylianou made her official debut, as a 14-year-old, 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 ...
in
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 ...
, where she placed forty-fourth overall in the
women's 100 m freestyle, with a time of 59.08 seconds.
Eight years after competing in her last Olympics, Stylianou qualified for her second Cypriot team, as a 22-year-old, at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. In the
200 m freestyle, Stylianou challenged seven other swimmers on the third heat, including freestyle relay champion
Ranomi Kromowidjojo
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch-Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m frees ...
of the Netherlands. She snared the third spot and twenty-seventh overall by three hundredths of a second (0.03) Austria's
Jördis Steinegger in 2:00.55. In her second event,
100 m freestyle
The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics.
The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...
, Stylianou finished sixth on the same heat and thirty-sixth overall by 0.03 of a second behind Iceland's
Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir
Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir, also known as Ragga Ragnars (born 24 October 1984) is an Icelandic actress and former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. She is a multiple-time Icelandic record holder in both long and short course f ...
, lowering her Olympic time to 56.38.
At the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, Stylianou qualified only for the
200 m freestyle in a B-standard entry time of 2:00.88. She challenged seven other swimmers on the second heat, including four-time Olympian
Hanna-Maria Seppälä of Finland and former Olympic champion
Camelia Potec of Romania. Stylianou raced to fourth place by more than half a second (0.50) behind Mexico's
Liliana Ibanez, outside her entry time of 2:01.87. Stylianou failed to advance into the semifinals, as she matched her overall position from Beijing in the preliminary heats.
References
External links
NBC Olympics Profile
1986 births
Living people
Cypriot female swimmers
Olympic swimmers for Cyprus
Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Cypriot female freestyle swimmers
Sportspeople from Larnaca
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