Milorad Čavić facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Milorad Čavić

Čavić at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Čavke, Čava, Majkula, Mike, Milo
Born	(1984-05-31) May 31, 1984 (age 41) Anaheim, California, U.S.
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, freestyle
Club	JSD Partizan
College team	University of California, Berkeley
Medal record Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly World Championships (LC) Gold 2009 Rome 50 m butterfly Silver 2009 Rome 100 m butterfly European Championships (LC) Gold 2008 Eindhoven 50 m butterfly Gold 2012 Debrecen 100 m butterfly European Championships (SC) Gold 2003 Dublin 100 m butterfly Gold 2006 Helsinki 100 m butterfly Gold 2007 Debrecen 50 m butterfly Gold 2007 Debrecen 100 m butterfly Gold 2008 Rijeka 100 m butterfly Silver 2003 Dublin 50 m freestyle Silver 2006 Helsinki 50 m freestyle Silver 2008 Rijeka 50 m butterfly

Milorad Čavić is a famous former swimmer from Serbia. He is best known for winning a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. This race was very exciting because he competed against the American swimmer Michael Phelps. Milorad Čavić also won titles as a World and European champion and held world records in swimming. He is one of only a few swimmers to complete the 100m butterfly race in under 50 seconds.

Milorad Čavić's Swimming Journey

Milorad Čavić was born in Anaheim, California, in the United States. He is a citizen of both Serbia and the United States. When he was in high school at Tustin High School in California, he set four new records for his state. He also set a national high school record in the 50-yard freestyle race. Later, while swimming for the University of California, Berkeley, he set new records for his school and conference in the 100-yard butterfly.

Early European Success

In 2003, Milorad Čavić represented Serbia and Montenegro at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Dublin. He won a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly and set a new world record for short course swimming. He also earned a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle.

Čavić continued to be a top swimmer in Europe. He won the 100-meter butterfly title again at the European Short Course Championships in Helsinki (2006), Debrecen (2007), and Rijeka (2008). In Rijeka, he set a new European record. He also won a silver medal in the 50-meter butterfly in Rijeka.

In 2008, Čavić won the European championship in the 50-meter butterfly in Eindhoven, Holland. He set a new European record. For a short time, he was disqualified because of a T-shirt he wore at the medal ceremony. However, his disqualification was removed, and his record was officially recognized. At the end of 2008, he was named the best Serbian athlete.

World Championships and Records

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, Čavić won a gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly. He also broke the 100-meter butterfly world record in the semifinals, finishing in 50.01 seconds. In the final, he won a silver medal with a time of 49.95 seconds. In that race, both Čavić and the winner, Michael Phelps, became the first two swimmers ever to swim the 100-meter butterfly in under 50 seconds.

Milorad Čavić had to miss competitions in 2010 because he had spinal surgery. The Olympic Committee of Serbia honored him as their sportsman of the year three times: in 2003, 2008, and 2009. In 2012, he won another gold medal at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. He set the best time in the world for 2012 in the 100-meter butterfly and a new championship record.

Milorad Čavić at the Olympics

2000 Sydney Olympics

Milorad Čavić was only 16 years old when he first competed in the Olympics. He represented Yugoslavia at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He swam in the 100-meter butterfly and 100-meter backstroke events.

• 100m butterfly: Disqualified
• 100m backstroke: Finished 42nd

2004 Athens Olympics

Čavić represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He competed in the 100-meter butterfly, 50-meter freestyle, and 100-meter freestyle.

• 100m butterfly: Reached the semifinals, finishing 16th.
• 50m freestyle: Finished 31st in the heats.
• 100m freestyle: Finished 19th in the heats.

In the 100-meter butterfly semifinal, Čavić was leading, but his swimming suit opened at the neck after a turn. This caused him to finish last in that race. In the 100-meter freestyle, he missed reaching the semifinals by a tiny amount, just 0.02 seconds.

Čavić trained at The Race Club, a special swimming club. This club was started by Olympic swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and his father, Gary Hall, Sr.. It was created to help top swimmers from all over the world train for the Olympics. To join, swimmers had to be ranked very high in the world or in their country. Famous swimmers like Roland Mark Schoeman and Therese Alshammar also trained there.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Čavić on a 2009 Serbian stamp

Milorad Čavić represented Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He qualified for the 100-meter freestyle semifinal but decided not to swim in it. He wanted to save his energy for the 100-meter butterfly race.

On August 14, 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, Čavić set a new Olympic record in the 100-meter butterfly during the first heats. He was faster than Michael Phelps and also had the fastest time in the semifinals. In the final race, Čavić finished second to Phelps by an incredibly small difference: one hundredth of a second. This made him Serbia's first Olympic medalist in swimming.

The Serbian team first questioned the result, but the swimming organization FINA later confirmed it. It was explained that Čavić touched the wall first, but Phelps applied more force to the electronic touchpad, which registered his touch first. Čavić later wrote that he accepted the defeat and that it was the greatest moment of his life. He said there was nothing wrong with losing to the greatest swimmer ever. Čavić continued to train at The Race Club after these Olympics.

2012 London Olympics

Milorad Čavić represented Serbia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. This was his last major competition. He made it to the final of the 100-meter butterfly and finished in a tie for fourth place.

Honors and Awards

Milorad Čavić received several awards for his amazing swimming career:

• OCS Sportsman of the Year Award: 2003, 2008, 2009
• Golden Badge of DSL Sport: 2008

Images for kids

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  Milorad Čavić at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

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  Čavić on a 2009 Serbian stamp

See also

In Spanish: Milorad Čavić para niños