Marcin Tarczyński (born 10 September 1990 in Nowy Dwór) is a Polish swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He is a silver medalist at the 2008 European Junior Swimming Championships in

Belgrade, Serbia Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mill ...

, and later represented

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 ...

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 ...

. While studying in the United States, Tarczynski also holds a school record and 200 m individual medley title at the 2012 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. Tarczynski reached his first international spotlight at the 2008 European Junior Swimming Championships in

, where he earned a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle (50.11). In 2010, Tarczynski attended

UC 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 uni ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, where he majored in molecular biology, and played for the California Golden Bears swimming and diving team under head coach Dave Durden. His sporting hero

Bartosz Kizierowski Bartłomiej "Bartosz" Kizierowski (born 20 February 1977) is a freestyle who represented Poland in four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. Biography Kizierowski began his career as a backstroke swimmer, but changed to freestyle ...

, an alumnus and a four-time Olympian, also inspired him to come to the United States, prompting Tarczynski's decision to experience college life of balancing academics and sport. While currently swimming for the Golden Bears, Tarczynski posted a time of 1:41.97, the eleventh fastest of all-time, to claim a 200 m individual medley title at the 2012 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-large ...

. Tarczynski also competed in the 100 m backstroke at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

. He cleared both a national record and a

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

A-cut of 54.12 from the Polish Long Course Championships in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

. He challenged seven other swimmers in heat five, including France's top favorite

Camille Lacourt Camille Lacourt (; born 22 April 1985) is a retired French competitive swimmer and backstroke specialist. He won the 50 metre backstroke at three consecutive world championships ( 2013 Barcelona, 2015 Kazan, and 2017 Budapest). He competed at t ...

and Russia's

Arkady Vyatchanin Arkady Arkadyevich Vyatchanin (russian: Аркадий Аркадьевич Вятча́нин, sr-Cyrl, Аркадиј Аркадјевич Вјатчањин; born 4 April 1984) is a retired Russian, Serbian and American backstroke swimmer. H ...

, bronze medalist in Beijing four years earlier. Tarczysnki saved a seventh spot over Lacourt's teammate

Benjamin Stasiulis Benjamin Stasiulis (born 20 July 1986) is a French swimmer. He has competed at the 2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138 ...

by three-tenths of a second (0.30), in a time of 55.06. Tarczysnki failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed twenty-seventh overall on the second day of prelims.

References

External links

Player Bio – California Golden Bears
* 1990 births Living people Polish male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Poland Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Polish male backstroke swimmers California Golden Bears men's swimmers Polish expatriate swimmers in the United States People from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki Sportspeople from Masovian Voivodeship 21st-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-swimming-bio-stub