Krisztina Egerszegi: Hungarian Swimming Legend
Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi, is a swimming legend and former world record holder. She was born on 16
August, 1974 in Budapest, Hungary. The three times Olympian and five time Olympic gold medalist is considered to be one of the best swimmers from Hungary.
She held the world record in the long course 200m back-strokes in 2:06.62 for nearly 17 years, from August 1991 to February 2008. It is the oldest record on the European list and the second oldest record on the Hungarian list. Her former 100m back-stroke
record in a time of 1:00.31 is the oldest Hungarian swimming record.
She made her international debut at the 1987 European Championships at the very young age of 13, as she came fourth in the 100m back-stroke and fifth in the 200m back-stroke in her events.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Krisztina won a gold medal in the 200m back-stroke and a silver medal in the 100m back-stroke. Thus, at the very young age of 14 years, she became the youngest ever female Olympic swimming champion. This record was broken by Japan’s
Kyoko Iwasaki in 1992.
In the 1989 European Championships, she participated in the three events including the 100m back-stroke, 200m back-stroke and 400m individual medley. Krisztina won the silver medal in all three events.
In 1991, she competed at the Perth World Championships, as she participated in the 100m back-stroke and the 200m back-stroke and achieved gold medals in both of them. A few months later, she competed at the 1991 Athens European Long Course Championships.
Krisztina participated in three events including the 100m back-stroke, 200m back-stroke and the 400m individual medley, winning gold medals in all her events.
With her continued tremendous performance, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, she again participated in the 100m back-stroke, 200m back-stroke and the 400m individual medley and won gold medals in all of them. She was the only women at these Olympic Games
to win three titles. Her amazing performance made her stand-out as an incredible athlete.
In the 1993 Sheffield European Long Course Championships, along with her main events, 100m back-stroke, 200m back-stroke and the 400m individual medley, she also participated in the 200m butterfly for the first time and won gold medals in all four events.
In 1994, she announced her retirement from the World Championships. However, due to a disappointing performance of fifth in the 100m back-stroke and second in the 200m back-stroke, she declared to compete for two more years, pointing the defeat as the main
reason.
Then at the 1995 European championships, she won her last two European titles in the 200m back-stroke and 400m individual medley. At this championship, she competed for the first time in 4*100m medley relay, and won a silver medal. She decided not to compete
in the 100m back-stroke but her time of 100m back-stroke, 1:00.93 in the medley relay was far better than the Mette Jacobsen’s 1:02.46, who claimed the title that year.
The following year, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, she won her first and last bronze medal in the 400m individual medley. After winning gold medal in the 200m back-stroke, she became the second Olympian to win gold medals in the same event at three consecutive
Olympic Games.
Egerszegi, after these Olympics, at the age of 22, announced her retirement from competitive swimming. She was honored with the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001 and was named the Hungarian swimmer of the year several times during her career. Her
amazing swimming career is due to her hard work and dedication. Egerszegi is truly one of the top swimmers of her generation.
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