Razvan Florea
Encyclopedia
Răzvan Florea is a former Olympic and national record setting backstroke
Backstroke
The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

 swimmer from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. He was the first Romanian male to win an Olympic medal in Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 when he won the bronze medal in the 200 backstroke at the 2004 Olympics
Romania at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Romania competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.Romania's sports in Greece included rowing, gymnastics, swimming, athletics, boxing and canoeing.- Gold:...

. He also swam for Romania at the 2000 Olympics
Romania at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Romania competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.At the Games, there was some controversy when gymnast Andreea Răducan was stripped of her individual all-around gold medal after testing positive for a stimulant...

.

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), Florea 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) Florea 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
Butterfly stroke
The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

, at age 11.

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 Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an 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 sixth in the Olympic final of the 200 backstroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics
Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics
At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, 32 swimming events were contested, between September 15–23, 2000. There was a total of 954 participants from 150 countries competing.-Medal table:-Men:...

.

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 Championships, 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 200 back (Stockholm, 22 January 2003). He also set a new national record in the short course
Short course
In Swimming, the term Short Course is used to identify a pool that is 25 metres in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool...

 100m backstroke event as well.

In 2004, he recorded several remarkable results: he won 3 gold medals at the New York and Rio de Janeiro World Cup
2003–2004 FINA Swimming World Cup
The 2003-2004 FINA World Cup was a series of eight , short course meets organized by FINA and held at eight different international locations...

 meets (February 2004) and he set 4 new Romanian national records. In May at the 2004 European Championships, Florea finished second in the 200 m backstroke. In the summer at the Mare Nostrum
Mare Nostrum (swimming)
Mare Nostrum is a series of swimming meets with three meets around the Mediterranean Sea in June annually. Until 2005 a meet in Rome was also included in the series...

 meets, he won 6 gold medals and 2 silver medals (in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

, Canet
Canet
Canet or Cannet may refer to:Places:Several communes in France:* Canet, Aude, in the Aude département* Canet, Hérault, in the Hérault département* Canet-de-Salars, in the Aveyron département...

, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

), which earned him second place in the general circuit ranking. Then at the 2004 Olympics
Romania at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Romania competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.Romania's sports in Greece included rowing, gymnastics, swimming, athletics, boxing and canoeing.- Gold:...

, Florea won the bronze medal in the 200 m backstroke, also setting 2 new Romanian national records.

The next year, at the 2005 World Championships
Swimming at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships
The swimming events at the XI FINA World Championships took place in the Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Canada from July 24–31, 2005.The swimming portion consisted of 50 events – 25 for men and 25 for women – all of which were swum in a long-course pool...

, Florea finished fourth in the 200 m backstroke, 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 2005-2006 World Cup competitions in Moscow and New York, winning two bronze medals in the 200 backstroke.

By this time in his career, Răzvan Florea has won 100 Romanian National Champion titles, has set national records 57 times, and has won a total of over 293 medals, of which 77 in international competitions. He retired in 2010.

Awards

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