Roland Rudolf (born August 6, 1985) is a Hungarian swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. He is an eight-time All-American swimmer, a multiple-time Hungarian titleholder in the age groups (1997–2004), and a two-time finalist at the 2002 European Junior Swimming Championships in

Linz, Austria Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capita ...

. Rudolf is also a member of the swimming team for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, and an economics graduate at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Rudolf competed for Hungary in a backstroke double 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. Leading up to the Games, he posted a lifetime tech-suit best of 1:59.00 (200 m backstroke) to eclipse the FINA A-standard (1:59.72) by 0.72 of a second at the USA Swimming Grand Prix in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. On the second night of the Games, Rudolf obtained a fifth spot and thirty-fifth overall in heat 2 of the

100 m backstroke 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

by one tenth of a second (0.10) behind Iceland's

Örn Arnarson Örn Arnarson (born 31 August 1981 in Reykjavík) is a swimmer from Iceland. He won his first major title in 1998 at the European SC Championships in Sheffield. There he captured the title in the 200 m backstroke. A year later, at the ...

in 56.25. In his second event, 200 m backstroke, Rudolf rounded out the field of eight swimmers to last place in heat six with 1:59.44, just four tenths of a second (0.4) outside his entry standard and more than three seconds behind college teammate and eventual Olympic champion

Ryan Lochte Ryan Steven Lochte ( ; born August 3, 1984) is an American professional swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by to ...

of the United States. Rudolf missed out the semifinals by a half-second deficit (0.50), as he shared a nineteenth-place tie with Austria's

Sebastian Stoss Sebastian Stoss (born January 14, 1986 in Cairo, Egypt) is an Austrian swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. He is a two-time Olympian, a multiple-time Austrian champion, and also, a current member of Eisenstädter Swimming Club (german: ...

in the prelims.

References

External links

Player Bio – Florida Gators
1985 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Hungary Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Hungarian male backstroke swimmers Swimmers from Budapest Florida Gators men's swimmers Hungarian expatriate swimmers in the United States 20th-century Hungarian people 21st-century Hungarian people {{Hungary-swimming-bio-stub