Karolina Pelendritou
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| Full name | Karolina Pelendritou | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Cypriot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
25 September 1986 Limassol, Cyprus |
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| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes |
Freestyle Breaststroke Butterfly Medley |
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Medal record
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Karolina Pelendritou (born 25 August 1986 in Limassol) is a visually impaired swimmer from Cyprus. She has won gold medals and broken records in national and international games as well as winning two gold medals, a silver and a bronze in three consecutive Paralympic Games. Due to her achievements she is known as the "Princess of the Pool".
Pelendritou was the first living person to appear on a national Cypriot stamp, in 2004. She has promoted the work of various EU initiatives throughout the years, currently holding the title of ambassador for the "Youth On The Move" initiative since 2010.
She began swimming at the age of nine. A family member of hers: Antonakis Katsiounis started to take her swimming.He noticed that she had a hidden talent. At the age of 10 she became a member of the Cyprus Swimming Federation with the Nautical Club of Limassol and at 13 years old she became a member of the National Swimming Team and instantly broke records in all categories of the 50m and 100m breaststroke.
In 2003, at the European meeting in the Czech Republic, she set a new European record in 100m S13 breaststroke and world record in the 50m S13 backstroke.
On September 25, 2004, in the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre, she won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, competing in the 100m breaststroke S13 setting a Paralympic record. This gold medal was the first Olympic medal ever awarded to an athlete from Cyprus. She was honoured by being the first living person to ever appear on a Cypriot stamp following this achievement at her first Paralympic Games.
In the same year she was appointed as 'Ambassador Against Discrimination' (Stop Discrimination) for the European Union. Pelendritou has faced her own struggle for equality on behalf of athletes with disabilities in Cyprus. She held the position as an ambassador for three years.
In 2005, following her nomination for the Leader Awards, she was awarded the title of 'Young Leader of the Year' and the prestigious 'Diamond Leader Award'.
In March 2006 she reaffirmed her talents by breaking four times the world record in the 50m and 100m breaststroke S12 during the British Open Championships and the European Cup, held in early May 2006 in the Czech Republic.
At the British Open Swimming Championship in Sheffield, she won a gold medal setting a new world record in the 100m breaststroke S12 in 2007. She also competed in the 50m and 100m freestyle S12 winning two more gold medals. In the European Cup “EUROWAVES” in the Czech Republic she brought home yet another gold medal in the 100m breaststroke S12 and shattered the world record once again. In August 2007 she represented Cyprus the 3rd World Championships and Games-IBSA, which were held in Brazil, where she won the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke S12 breaking the world record of the event and gold medal in 100m breaststroke S12 record with a new Games record.
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