Simona Păduraru (born 21 November 1981 in

Bacău Bacău ( , , ; hu, Bákó; la, Bacovia) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. At the 2016 national estimation it had a population of 196,883, making it the 12th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of ...

) is an international

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, who represented her native country at two consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, starting in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. Prior to that tournament, at the

2000 European Aquatics Championships The 2000 LEN European Championships were held Monday 3 July to Sunday 9 July 2000 in Helsinki, Finland. Competition was swum in the 50 m, long course pool at the Mäkelänrinne Swimming Center. The 25th edition of the event was organised by ...

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

, she was a member of the women's relay team that won the gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle and the bronze medal in the 4×100 m freestyle. After retiring and giving birth to her first child, Maria-Catinca, in 2007, Simona continued taking part in swimming events. In 2018, she was awarded the title of Honorable Citizen of the city Bacău by the city mayor at that time.

External links

Profile on Romanian Olympic Committee
* 1981 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Romania Sportspeople from Bacău Romanian female freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming {{Romania-swimming-bio-stub