Balázs Gercsák

Balázs Gercsák
Personal information
Nationality  Hungary
Born 14 October 1986
Budapest, Hungary
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 70 kg (150 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
Club Jövő SC (HUN)
College team University of Florida (U.S.)
Coach Gábor Poszgai (HUN)
The native form of this personal name is Gercsák Balázs. This article uses the Western name order.

Balázs Gercsák (born October 14, 1986) is a Hungarian swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events.[1] Gercsak is a former member of the Florida Gators, and a graduate of digital media productions at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He is also the brother of open water swimmer Csaba Gercsák, who won the bronze medal in the 25 km marathon at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China.[2]

Gercsak made his official debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he competed in the men's 4×200 m freestyle relay, along with his teammates Balázs Makány, Tamás Szűcs, and four-time Olympian Tamás Kerékjártó. Swimming the second leg in heat two, Gercsak recorded a split of 1:54.03, but the Hungarians rounded out the field to last place and sixteenth overall with a final time of 7:31.78.[3]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Gercsak qualified as an individual swimmer for the men's 400 m freestyle, by posting his lifetime best and clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 3:52.21 from the national championships in Budapest.[4] He challenged six other swimmers on the second heat, including Greece's Spyridon Gianniotis, Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry, and South Africa's Jean Basson. Gercsak finished his heat in sixth place by more than a second behind Basson with a time of 3:54.14. Gercsak, however, failed to advance into the final, as he placed thirty-second overall in the preliminary heats.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Balázs Gercsák". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Saluki swimmer takes Bronze medal at World Swimming Championships". Southern Illinois Salukis. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "Men's 4×200m Freestyle Heat 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Gator Men's Profiles: Balázs Gercsák" (PDF). Florida Gators. p. 19. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Men's 400m Freestyle Heat 2". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 17 December 2012.

External links