Birgit Koschischek

Birgit Koschischek
Personal information
Nationality  Austria
Born 22 May 1987
Vienna, Austria
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Weight 60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, butterfly
Club SV Schwechat[1]
Coach Adam Thoroczkay[1]

Birgit Koschischek (born May 22, 1987 in Vienna) is an Austrian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.[1][2] She is a two-time Olympian, a four-time Austrian long and short course record holder, and a member of Schwechat Swimming Club (German: Schwimmverein Schwechat) in Schwechat, under her personal coach Adam Thoroczkay.[1]

Swimming career

Koschischek made her international debut at the 2007 Military World Games in Hyderabad, India, where she earned a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle by one tenth of a second (0.10) behind Romania's Camelia Potec, posting her time at 57.62 seconds.[3][4] In 2008, Koschischek reached the semifinals of the freestyle and butterfly (both 100 m) at the European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with respective times of 56.15 and 59.61. Having cleared FINA B-cuts in both events, she guaranteed a spot on the Austrian swimming team for the Olympics.[5][6]

Koschischek represented Austria at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she qualified for two swimming events. On the first night of the Games, Koschischek won the third heat of the 100 m butterfly, by 0.28 of a second ahead of Hong Kong's Hannah Wilson in an Austrian record of 59.07, but she missed out the semifinals by 0.58-second deficit, as she placed twenty-sixth out of 69 swimmers in the preliminaries.[7] In the 100 m freestyle, Koschischek posted a lifetime best and another Austrian record of 55.62. She raced to third place and twenty-ninth overall by a hundredth of a second (0.01) behind Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas.[8]

Shortly after the Olympics, Koschischek broke two more national records in the same events at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka, Croatia, with a time of 53.67 and 57.42 seconds, respectively.[9] She also achieved an eighth-place finish, and eventually added her fifth-career Austrian record (2:07.46) in the women's 200 m butterfly at the 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Szczecin, Poland.[10]

Four years after competing in her first Olympics, Koschischek qualified for her second Austrian team, as a 25-year-old, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by attaining a B-standard entry time of 58.80 seconds in the women's 100 m butterfly.[11] She challenged seven other swimmers on the third heat again, including former Olympic champion Otylia Jędrzejczak of Poland. She came only in last place by one tenth of a second (0.10) behind Portugal's Sara Oliveira, outside her national record time of 1:00.54. Koschischek, however, failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed thirty-seventh out of 42 swimmers in the preliminary heats.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Birgit Koschischek". London 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Birgit Koschischek". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "World Military Games: Pair of Competition Records Fall". Swimming World Magazine. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Podoprigora holte Goldmedaille über 200-m-Brust" [Podoprigora wins gold medal in the 200 metre breaststroke] (in German). Krone. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Women's 100m Freestyle" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 48. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Women's 100m Butterfly" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 73. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Women's 100m Butterfly Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Women's 100m Freestyle Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Mirna Jukic Dominates Austria Championships". Swimming World Magazine. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "European Short Course Championships: Mireia Belmonte Garcia Clocks Strong Double". Swimming World Magazine. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Qualifying Athletes – Women's 100 m butterfly" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Women's 100m Butterfly Heat 3". London 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.

External links