David Karasek

David Karasek

Personal information
Nickname(s)	Kari, Seckel[1]
Nationality	Switzerland
Born	(1987-10-06) 6 October 1987 (age 37) Zurich, Switzerland
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, medley
Club	Limmat Sharks (SUI)[1]
College team	Virginia Cavaliers (USA)[1]
Coach	Mark Bernardino Dirk Reinicke[1]

David Karasek (born 6 October 1987 in Zurich) is a Swiss swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events.[1][2] He is a 10-time Swiss swimming champion, a multiple-time medley record holder, and a former member of the swimming team for Virginia Cavaliers under his personal coaches Mark Bernardino and Dirk Reinicke.[1][3]

Karasek qualified for the men's 200 m individual medley at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by breaking a Swiss record and eclipsing a FINA B-cut of 2:01.79 from the national championships in Zurich.[4][5] He challenged seven other swimmers on the second heat, including Olympic veterans Bradley Ally of Barbados, Martin Liivamägi of Estonia, and Raphaël Stacchiotti of Luxembourg. He edged out Tunisia's Taki M'rabet to pick up a seventh spot by 0.06 of a second, lowering his own Swiss record to 2:01.35.[6] Karasek failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed twenty-eighth overall in the preliminaries.[7] His personal bests include the 200 m freestyle (1:48.97[8]) and the 400 m freestyle (3:52.64[9]) in long course.

Karasek is a commerce graduate at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.[1][3] In February 2013, Karasek said that he is working on a master's degree of finance at the IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.[10] He said "Other than (school), I couldn’t live in Spain, as I don’t like it much, especially the swimming. It’s just not the same as the opportunities to swim at UVA for four years. That enthusiasm is missing in Spain. They’re a little lazy and it’s just not as fun".[10]

References

1. "David Karasek". London 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "David Karasek". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
3. "FSN Profile – David Karasek" (PDF). Schweizerischer Schwimmverband. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
4. "Qualifying Athletes – Men's 200 m individual medley" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
5. "Swiss National Championships: David Karasek Downs Swiss Record on Final Day". Swimming World Magazine. 18 March 2012. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
6. "Perdue Becomes Virginia's Second Gold Medalist in London". Virginia Cavaliers. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
7. "Men's 200m Individual Medley Heat 2". London 2012. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
8. "Swimrankings - KARASEK, David Raphael". www.swimrankings.net. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
9. "Swimrankings - KARASEK, David Raphael". www.swimrankings.net. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
10. "Swimming and Diving: Catching up with David Karasek". Virginia Cavaliers. 1 February 2013. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.

External links

• NBC Olympics Profile