Duje Draganja (; born 27 February 1983) is a retired

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n swimmer who won the silver medal in men's 50 metres freestyle race at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

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Career

Draganja won a silver medal in 2005 World Aquatics Championships held in

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in 50 m freestyle. He has 4 medals from World Short Course Swimming Championships. In 2006 and

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he won a gold medal in 50 meter freestyle. Also he has bronze medal in 100 m freestyle (2008) and bronze medal in 50 m butterfly (2006). Draganja is also a former NCAA record holder in the 100 yard freestyle, with a time of 41.49, set in 2005, while he swam for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He, like many other world-class, non-American swimmers, chose to spend 4 years training and competing at an American university. During his four years with Cal, Duje won 10 Pac-10 swimming titles, and eight

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National championships. While at Cal, he trained with the world-renowned sprinting coach

Mike Bottom Mike Bottom (c. 1956) is the ninth head coach of the Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving program at the University of Michigan. His men's team finished as champions at the 2013 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. Swimming car ...

. Bottom coached Draganja for seven years before they parted ways following the 2008 Olympics. Now Draganja trains in Zagreb with swimming club Dubrava. Draganja trained at The Race Club, a swimming club founded by Olympic Swimmers

Gary Hall, Jr. Gary Wayne Hall Jr. (born September 26, 1974) is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals (five gold, three silver, two bronze). He is a former wor ...

and his father, Gary Hall, Sr. The Race Club, originally known as "The World Team," was designed to serve as a training group for elite swimmers across the world in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. To be able to train with the Race Club, one must either have been ranked in the top 20 in the world the past 3 calendar years or top 3 in their nation in the past year. The Race Club included such well known swimmers as

Roland Mark Schoeman Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 4 July 1980) is a South African American swimmer and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In May 2022, he officially became United States citizen. Ca ...

, Mark Foster,

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, Ricardo Busquets and Therese Alshammar. They were coached by

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

coach

. He has been controversial in Croatia for his decision to take the citizenship of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

and continue his swimming career under the flag of that country, after receiving a very lucrative offer to do so. Croatian public opinion largely turned against Draganja at that time with the press portraying him as a villain with no respect for his homeland. Draganja accepted a Qatar passport in August 2005 claiming that he will keep his Croatian passport and will not change his religion. Draganja was raised

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. However, in February 2006, the swimmer made it clear that he had reversed his decision and that he will continue to compete for his country of birth, Croatia.

Personal bests

Long course

*50 meters freestyle – 21.29 NR (

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, 31 July 2009) *100 meters freestyle – 48.18 NR (

, 29 July 2009) *50 meters butterfly – 23.03 NR (

, 26 July 2009) *100 meters butterfly – 52.46 (

, 20 August 2004)

Short course

*50 meters freestyle – 20.70 NR (

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, 10 December 2009) *100 meters freestyle – 46.64 NR (March 2004) *100 meters butterfly – 51.19 (

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

, 13 December 2007) *100 metres medley – 51.20 NR (

, 13 December 2009)

Olympic results

References

External links

Profile
at CalBears.com
Profile
at PK Dubrava website
Profile
at the Croatian Swimming Federation website
Duje Draganja: Cal swimmer a national hero in Croatia

Croatian swimmer Draganja to swim for Qatar

*

Draganja U-turn

{{DEFAULTSORT:Draganja, Duje 1983 births Living people Male butterfly swimmers Croatian male swimmers Croatian male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Croatia Olympic swimmers of Croatia Sportspeople from Split, Croatia World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming California Golden Bears men's swimmers