Katarína Filová (born 14 May 1989 in
Bratislava) is a Slovak swimmer, who specializes in sprint freestyle events.
She is a multiple-time Slovak freestyle relay record holder, and a two-time 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference team champion. Filova is also a resident athlete for J&T Sport Team Bratislava, and is coached and trained by Gabriel Baran.
[
Filova qualified for two swimming events 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 achieving the FINA B-standard entry times of 55.66 (100 m freestyle) and 2:01.02 (200 m freestyle) at the Grand Prix Slovakia in her home city Bratislava. In the 200 m freestyle, Filova challenged seven other swimmers in the second heat, including former Olympic champion Camelia Potec of Romania. Swimming in lane eight, Filova edged out Austria's Jördis Steinegger to pick up sixth spot and twenty-eighth overall by 0.36 of a second in 2:02.03. 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 ...
, Filova pulled off another sixth-place finish in heat four, a quarter of a second (0.25) behind Olympic breaststroke champion Rūta Meilutytė
Rūta Meilutytė (; born 19 March 1997) is a Lithuanian swimmer. An Olympic gold medalist, she is a world record holder in the short course 50 metre breaststroke and 100 metre breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the long cour ...
of Lithuania in a time of 56.58. Filova failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed thirty-first overall out of 48 swimmers in the preliminaries.
Filova is currently a fourth-year junior with an international studies major at Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...
in Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of ...
. She is also one of two Slovak athletes, alongside hammer thrower Marcel Lomnický, who train for the Virginia Tech Hokies
The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 v ...
under head coach Ned Skinner.
References
External links
Player Bio – Virginia Tech Hokies
1989 births
Living people
Slovak female swimmers
Olympic swimmers for Slovakia
Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Slovak female freestyle swimmers
Sportspeople from Bratislava
Virginia Tech Hokies women's swimmers
Expatriate swimmers in the United States
20th-century Slovak women
21st-century Slovak women
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