Răzvan Florea

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Olympic medal record
Men's Swimming
Bronze	2004 Athens	200 m Backstroke

Răzvan-Ionuţ Florea (born September 29, 1980, in Constanţa) is a Romanian swimmer, the first male Romanian swimmer to win an Olympic medal.

[edit] Career

He began swimming at the age of six, at the Constanţa Children's Palace pool, coached by Dumitru Lungu. Due to his attraction to water and his inborn qualities (his father was a professional scuba diver), Răzvan overcame the drawback of being overweight and recorded a fast progress. After less than one year of swimming, he took part in his first competitions for his age group, during which he became a medalist 6 times.

1987 would become his year of reference: the first year when he won a medal.

During the following years, he had a constant progress, so that in 1988 (aged 8) Răzvan won 11 medals within local competitions for his age group; in 1989, he won another 6 medals, and in 1990 and 1991, 21 medals, including in national competitions for 10- and 11-year olds. The most significant results during this period are his first two national records for 50m butterfly, at age 11, respectively 12.

In 1995 (aged 15), he made his debut in the National Junior Swimming Team.

In 1998 (aged 18) he was selected for the National and Olympic Teams.

Between 1996 and 2000, he participated in over 25 major European competitions (official, unofficial and Grand Prix), winning 42 medals. His progress was constant and valuable, and he set 25 national records during this time.

One remarkable personal achievement at international level during this period was finishing fourth in the Olympic final of the 200m backstroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The next year was difficult, due to health problems, but he eventually managed to return to the international competition arena, finishing fifth at the 2002 European Swimming Championships in Berlin, a sign which marked his comeback.

In 2003, he made his debut in World Cup competitions, winning his first silver medal at this level - second place in the 200m backstroke event (Stockholm, January 22, 2003). He also set a new national record in the 100m backstroke event as well.

At the beginning of 2004, he recorded several remarkable results: he won 3 gold medals at the New York and Rio de Janeiro World Cup competitions (February 2004) and he set 4 new Romanian national records. At the European Swimming Championships in Madrid, Răzvan finished second and won the title of European Vice-Champion in the 200m backstroke event. In the Mare Nostrum circuit competitions, he won 6 gold medals and 2 silver medals (in Monaco, Canet, Barcelona and Rome), which earned him the second place in the general ranking of the circuit - a very valuable result at international level.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Răzvan won the bronze medal in the 200m backstroke event, also setting 2 new Romanian national records. It is interesting to note that his result in this event (1,57.56) is within the top ten world performances of the century.

At the 2005 World Swimming Championships in Montreal, Răzvan finished fourth in the 200m backstroke event, three hundreds of a second short of the bronze medal. However, his 1,57.03 time meant a new national record.

He recorded his first 2006 results at the World Cup competitions in Moscow and New York, winning two bronze medals in the 200m backstroke event.

By this time in his career, Răzvan Florea has won 100 Romanian National Champion titles, has set 57 national records and has won a total of over 293 medals, of which 77 in international competitions.

He is currently swimming for the Farul Constanţa Sports Club (coach: Gina Handrea)

[edit] Awards

The Meritul Sportiv National Medal (sporting achievement), second class with one strap
The Meritul Sportiv Order (sporting achievement), third class with two straps