Milorad "Milo" Čavić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад "Мило" Чавић, ; born May 31, 1984) is a Serbian former professional swimmer. He won a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in a historic race with American swimmer

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

. Čavić also was World and European champion, as well as world record holder. He is one of five swimmers to break 50 seconds in the 100m butterfly.

Swimming career

Born in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

and a citizen of both

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he attended Tustin High School in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city does not include the unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated communit ...

, where he set four CIF records and a national high school mark in the 50 yd freestyle. While swimming for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and training with Mike Bottom, Čavić set a new school and Pac-10 record in the 100 yd butterfly (45.44 s). Representing

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships The European Short Course Swimming Championships, variously referred to informally as the "Short Course Europeans" or "European 25m Championships", are a swimming meet, organized by LEN. The meet features swimmers from Europe, competing in event ...

in Dublin 2003, Čavić won the gold medal in 100 m butterfly and set a new world record in the short course. He also won a silver medal in 50 m freestyle. Čavić defended his European 100 m title on subsequent short-course championships in Helsinki 2006 (finishing 50.63), Debrecen 2007 (finishing at 50.53) and Rijeka 2008 (finishing at 49.19 and setting a new European record). He also took silver on 50 m butterfly in Rijeka. On December 14, 2006, Čavić defended his European championship in the 100 m butterfly in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, finishing at 50.63 seconds. On December 14, 2007, the sprinter defended his European championship again in the 100 m butterfly in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

, finishing at 50.53 seconds. In 2008, Čavić won the European championship in the 50 m butterfly, setting the new European record (23.11) in Eindhoven, Holland – a result briefly quashed when the European Swimming Federation (LEN) immediately disqualified the swimmer for wearing a T-shirt at the medals ceremony that read " Kosovo is Serbia". However, his disqualification was removed and his record was recognized. At the end of the year, he was declared the best Serbian athlete. At the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994 World Aq ...

, Čavić won gold in the 50 m butterfly and broke the 100 m butterfly world record in the semifinals finishing in 50.01 seconds. In the finals Čavić won silver with time of 49.95. In that final, Both Cavic and winner Phelps became the first two swimmers to swim the 100 fly under 50 seconds. He missed competitions in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

due to spinal surgery. The

Olympic Committee of Serbia The Olympic Committee of Serbia (, sr-Cyrl, Олимпијски комитет Србије) is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's participation at the Olympic Games and other multisport events. The ...

proclaimed him sportsman of the year three times, in 2003, 2008 and 2009. On May 26, 2012, he won the gold medal at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, in the 100 m butterfly, setting the best time in the world in 2012 and a new championship record: 51.45 seconds.

Olympic career

2000 Sydney Summer Olympics

' At the age of 16, Čavić represented Yugoslavia at the 2000 Summer Olympics in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the 100 m butterfly (disqualified) and 100 backstroke – 42nd – 58.25 s.

2004 Athens Summer Olympics

' Čavić represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the 100 m butterfly, 50 m freestyle and the 100 m freestyle. Čavić was leading in a semifinal of the 100 metre butterfly, but right after the turn at the halfway point of the race, his suit opened at the neck and sucked in water, causing Čavić to finish last. In the heats of the 100 metre freestyle, Čavić finished 19th missing the semi-finals by 0.02 seconds. Čavić trained at The Race Club, a swimming club founded by Olympic swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and his father, Gary Hall, Sr. The Race Club, originally known as "The World Team," was designed to serve as a training group for elite swimmers across the world in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. To be able to train with the Race Club, one must either have been ranked in the top 20 in the world the past 3 calendar years or top 3 in their nation in the past year. The Race Club included such well known swimmers as Roland Mark Schoeman, Mark Foster, Ryk Neethling, Ricky Busquet and Therese Alshammar.The World Team
. The Race Club. Retrieved on 2014-07-24. The Race Club offers various swimming camps, swim clinics, and swimming technique video recording year round for young swimmers at their Islamorada,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

based training center.

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

Čavić represented Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in two swimming events. Even though he qualified for the 100 metre freestyle semi-final Čavić withdrew in order to prepare for the 100 metre butterfly. On August 14, 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, Čavić broke the 100 meter butterfly Olympic Record during the preliminary heats, finishing ahead of

and also recorded the fastest time in the semi-finals. Čavić came in second to Phelps by one hundredth of a second in the final, and became Serbia's inaugural Olympiad medalist. It was Phelps' seventh gold medal of the Olympiad. The Serbian team initially challenged the result but FINA later confirmed the finish. It was later confirmed by the FINA and Omega timekeeping officials that Čavić indeed arrived first but it was Phelps who, in the milliseconds after touching the wall, applied more force to trigger an electronic touchpad first. Čavić later wrote in his blog: "People, this is the greatest moment of my life. If you ask me, it should be accepted and we should move on. I’ve accepted defeat, and there’s nothing wrong with losing to the greatest swimmer there has ever been".Christopher Clarey, 'Cavic Finds a Personal Triumph in the Narrowest of Defeats'. ''New York Times''. August 16, 2008
/ref> Čavić continued training at The Race Club.

2012 London Summer Olympics

Čavić represented Serbia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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, making it his sporting finale. He qualified for the 100 meter butterfly final and tied for fourth place.

Career best times

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Short course metres (25 m pool)

Honours and awards

* OCS Sportsman of the Year Award (3): 2003, 2008, 2009 * Golden Badge of DSL Sport (1): 2008

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavic, Milorad 1984 births Living people Serbian male swimmers California Golden Bears men's swimmers American people of Serbian descent American male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Serbia and Montenegro Olympic swimmers for Serbia Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Serbia Serbian male butterfly swimmers Serbian male freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Anaheim, California World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics European champions for Serbia Serbia and Montenegro male swimmers Olympic silver medalists in swimming American male butterfly swimmers Swimmers from California Tustin High School alumni 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen