Rostislav Vítek

Rostislav Vítek
Personal information
Full name Rostislav Vítek
National team  Czech Republic
Born (1976-01-06) 6 January 1976
Příbram, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Open water
Club Kometa Brno
Coach Zdenek Tobiás

Rostislav Vítek (born January 6, 1976) is a Czech swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon.[1] He represented his nation Czech Republic at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and eventually became the nation's first ever swimmer to cross the English Channel with a remarkable seven-hour record.

Vitek competed as a lone open water swimmer for the Czech Republic in the inaugural men's 10 km marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to the Games, he scored a third-place time in 1:59:35.5 to claim the bronze medal and enter the top ten field at the 10 km Marathon Swimming Olympic test event in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.[2][3] Farther from the leaders by about eight body lengths, Vítek pulled away from the bottom of the field to drop beneath a 1:53 threshold for the seventeenth spot with a time of 1:52:41.8, about fifty seconds behind winner Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands.[4]

In 2009, Vitek successfully swam the English Channel at 7 hours, 16 minutes, and 25 seconds, which eventually became the fourth fastest solo single-crossing of all time.[5] Because of his outstanding achievement and full commitment to the sport, he was nominated as 2009 World Open Water Swimming Performer of the Year.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Rostislav Vítek". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Open Water Test Event: Petar Stoychev Wins Men's 10K, Qualifies for Olympics". Swimming World Magazine. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Munatones, Steven (1 June 2008). "Open Water Test Event: Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Fields Set". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Swimming: Men's Marathon 10km". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "The English Channel World Record Still Standing At 6:57". Daily News of Open Water Swimming. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "2009 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Nominees". Open Water Source. Retrieved 13 January 2013.


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