| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raffaele Avagnano | ||||||||
| Nationality | Italian | ||||||||
| Born | 21 August 1963 | ||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||
Medal record
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Raffaele Avagnano (born 21 August 1963) is a retired breaststroke swimmer from Italy, who represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He claimed the gold medal a year earlier at the 1983 Mediterranean Games in the Men's 100m Breaststroke event.
The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick along with the movement of the hips and chest. It is the newest swimming style swum in competition, first swum in the early 1930s and originating out of the breaststroke.
Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be swum comfortably at slow speeds. In most swimming classes, beginners learn either the breaststroke or the freestyle first. However, at the competitive level, swimming breaststroke at speed requires endurance and strength comparable to other strokes. Some people refer to breaststroke as the "frog" stroke, as the arms and legs move somewhat like a frog swimming in the water. The stroke itself is the slowest of any competitive strokes and is thought to be the oldest of all swimming strokes.
Medley Swimming is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay.
Kosuke Kitajima is a Japanese retired breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals at the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the 2008 Summer Olympics – becoming the first and only swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events at consecutive Olympic games.
Brendan Joseph Hansen is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in breaststroke events. Hansen is a six-time Olympic medalist, and is also a former world record-holder in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events.
Domenico Fioravanti is a retired Italian competitive swimmer who won two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is the Russian record holder in the 200 metre individual medley, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, and 200 metre breaststroke. After making her Olympic debut in 2008, she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke in 2012, and silver medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke in 2016. She is a six-time World Champion, winning the 50 metre breaststroke in 2009 and 2013, the 100 metre breaststroke in 2015, and the 200 metre breaststroke in 2013, 2017, and 2019. In 2019, she became the first woman to win the 200 metre breaststroke at a FINA World Aquatics Championships three times. She is a former world record holder in the long course 50 metre breaststroke. She has won 109 medals, including 48 gold medals, at Swimming World Cups.
Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relays at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Rebecca Soni is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke, and is the first woman to swim the 200-meter breaststroke in under 2 minutes 20 seconds. As a member of the U.S. national team, she held the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay from 2012 to 2017.
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water. Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, with varied distance events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley. In addition to these individual events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay. A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke, ordered as backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.
Felipe Alves França da Silva is a Brazilian breaststroke swimmer, who competed for his country in three Olympic Games.
Rūta Meilutytė is a Lithuanian swimmer. An Olympic gold medalist, she is a world record holder in the short course 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and long course 50 metre breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke.
Rikke Møller Pedersen is a Danish competitive swimmer specialising in breaststroke and from 2013 to 2021 world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke (2:19.11).
Kevin Cordes is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke events. He currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League. Cordes was a member of the 2016 U.S. Men's Olympic Swimming Team. He won gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay as a member of the preliminary relay, and took 4th place in the Men's 100m Breaststroke at the 2016 Olympic Games. He is the former American record holder in the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke.
Nicolas Fink is an American competitive swimmer. He is a five-time world champion in breaststroke events. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×100 meter medley relay and 4×50 meter mixed medley relay. He is the Americas record holder in the short course 50 meter breaststroke, 100 meter breaststroke, and 200 meter breaststroke as well as the American record holder in the long course 50 meter breaststroke. In the 50 meter breaststroke, he won the World Short Course titles in 2021 and 2022 and World Long Course title in 2022. In the 100 meter breaststroke, he is the 2022 World Short Course gold medalist. In the 200 meter breaststroke, he is the 2021 World Short Course gold medalist.
Adam George Peaty is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in the breaststroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first by a male British swimmer in 24 years, and retained the title at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title. He is also an eight-time World Champion, a sixteen-time European Champion and a four-time Commonwealth Champion. According to FINA itself, Peaty is widely regarded as the dominant breaststroke swimmer of his era, and the most dominant sprint breaststroke swimmer of all time.
Lillia Camille King is an American swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. She currently represents the Cali Condors, a team that is part of the International Swimming League. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, in which she swam the breaststroke leg. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, King won a silver medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay for her efforts in the prelims, the silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke, and the bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke. She is the current world record holder in the long course 100-meter breaststroke.
Andrew Wilson is a retired American swimmer. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he placed 6th in the 100 meter breaststroke, 17th in the 200 meter breaststroke, and won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, for his efforts in the prelims of the relay.
Nicolò Martinenghi is an Italian swimmer. He is a two-time world record holder in the 4×50 metre medley relay, swimming breaststroke on both relays. He is the Italian record holder in the 50 metre breaststroke and 100 metre breaststroke.
Annie Lazor is a retired American competitive swimmer. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won the bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke.
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