Birgit Koschischek (born 22 May 1987 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) is an Austrian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She is a two-time Olympian, a four-time Austrian long and short course record holder, and a member of Schwechat Swimming Club (german: Schwimmverein Schwechat) in

Schwechat Schwechat () is a town southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV. Geography Schwechat is named after the river Schwechat, wh ...

, under her personal coach Adam Thoroczkay.

Swimming career

Koschischek made her international debut at the

2007 Military World Games The 2007 Military World Games, officially the 4th CISM Military World Games were held at the twin-cities Hyderabad - Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India from 14–21 October 2007. Some parts of the games were also held in Mumbai. According to p ...

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern In ...

, where she earned a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle by one tenth of a second (0.10) behind Romania's Camelia Potec, posting her time at 57.62 seconds. In 2008, Koschischek reached the semifinals of the freestyle and butterfly (both 100 m) at the European Championships in

Eindhoven, Netherlands Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

at the 2008 Summer Olympics 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 ...

, where she qualified for two swimming events. On the first night of the Games, Koschischek won the third heat of the 100 m butterfly, by 0.28 of a second ahead of Hong Kong's

Hannah Wilson Hannah Jane Arnett Wilson (; born 10 March 1989) is a Hong Kong retired amateur swimmer. She is a three-time Olympic swimmer for Hong Kong, having swum at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and 2012 Summer O ...

in an Austrian record of 59.07, but she missed out the semifinals by 0.58-second deficit, as she placed twenty-sixth out of 69 swimmers in the preliminaries. In the

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 ...

, Koschischek posted a lifetime best and another Austrian record of 55.62. She raced to third place and twenty-ninth overall by a hundredth of a second (0.01) behind

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (born March 4, 1990) is a competitive swimmer and national record-holder from the Bahamas who has represented her country in international championships, including the Olympics, FINA world championships, and Pan Ameri ...

of the Bahamas. Shortly after the Olympics, Koschischek broke two more national records in the same events at the

2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 took place in Rijeka, Croatia from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 December 2008. Medal table Medal summary Legend: * WR = World record * ER = European record * CR = Championships record Men's e ...

Rijeka, Croatia Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primorj ...

, with a time of 53.67 and 57.42 seconds, respectively. She also achieved an eighth-place finish, and eventually added her fifth-career Austrian record (2:07.46) in the women's 200 m butterfly at the

2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships were held in Szczecin, Poland, from December 8 to 11, 2011. The event featured competition in a short course (25m) pool. The event was held over four days with heats, semifinals and a final f ...

in Szczecin,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Four years after competing in her first Olympics, Koschischek qualified for her second Austrian team, as a 25-year-old, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, by attaining a B-standard entry time of 58.80 seconds in the women's 100 m butterfly. She challenged seven other swimmers on the third heat again, including former Olympic champion

Otylia Jędrzejczak Otylia Jędrzejczak (; born 13 December 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She was the Olympic champion from 2004 Athens in the 200 metre butterfly. She finished 4th in this event in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and also swam at the 2000 Summ ...

of Poland. She came only in last place by one tenth of a second (0.10) behind Portugal's

Sara Oliveira Sara de Jesus Freitas de Oliveira is an Olympic swimmer from Portugal. She has swum for Portugal at 2008 and 2012 Olympics, as well as at multiple World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elit ...

, outside her national record time of 1:00.54. Koschischek, however, failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed thirty-seventh out of 42 swimmers in the preliminary heats.

References

External links

*
NBC Olympics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koschischek, Birgit 1987 births Living people Austrian female butterfly swimmers Austrian female freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Austria Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Vienna