Dimosthenis Michalentzakis

Dimosthenis 'Dimos' Michalentzakis is a Greek Paralympic swimmer who competes in S9 and S8 classification events. He won Paralympic gold in the 100m butterfly at 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.[1] He was born in Alexandroupoli in 19/10/1998 and he has origin from Feres. He holds the world record in 200 meters freestyle in his category with a performance of 2:07:16 [2]. The Municipal Swimming Pool of Alexandroupoli has his name [3].

Dimosthenis Michalentzakis
Personal information
NationalityGreek
Born (1998-10-19) 19 October 1998
Alexandroupolis, Greece
Height183 cm (6.00 ft)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, Butterfly
ClassificationsS9, SM9, S8, SB8
ClubIrodikos Komotini
CoachTasos Kallitsaris
Medal record
Men's para swimming
Representing  Greece
Paralympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m butterfly S9
World Championships (LC)
2017 Mexico City 100 m butterfly S9
2019 London 50 m freestyle S8
2019 London 100 m freestyle S8
2019 London 100 m butterfly S8
European Championships
2016 Funchal100m butterfly S9
2018 Dublin100m butterfly S8
2018 Dublin200m individual medley S8

He started swimming at the age of 4 due to his disease which is obstetric paralysis in the right upper limb and he managed to pass all the swimming steps with great success. It is remarkable that Demosthenis is the only Greek swimmer who swims also with the regular swimmers and succeeds to secure qualification limits for the Panhellenic Championships.

In 2014, he joined the national men's swimming team disabled athletes. At 2014 IPC Swimming European Championship in Eindhoven, he finished 4th in the 200m individual medley S9 race and 5th in the 100m butterfly S9, just 16 years old.

At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, she finished 4th in the 100m butterfly S9. His greatest success, however, was achieved at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil, as he won the Gold Paralympic medal and set a new Paralympic record (59:27) in the 100m butterfly S9.

At the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico he won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly S9 race [4], while at 2018 World Para Swimming European Championships in Dublin he won two gold medals (100m butterfly S8, 200m individual medley S8) [5].

At 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London, he became world champion again, winning three gold medals in the S8 classification (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly) [6].

References
  1. "Michalentzakis, Dimosthenis". IPC. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. "Εκπληκτικός Μιχαλεντζάκης με νέο Παγκόσμιο ρεκόρ και χρυσό μετάλλιο στο IDM Berlin". SportsAddict.gr - Αθλητικά νέα της Θράκης (in Greek). Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  3. "The new logo of Alexandroupoli Swimming Centre ' Dimosthenis Michaletzakis' unveiled". paralympicus.gr. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  4. "Χρυσός ο Μιχαλεντζάκης, το παλικάρι απ' τον Έβρο, στο Παγκόσμιο του Μεξικό". EVROS NEWS (in Greek). Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  5. "ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟ ΧΡΥΣΟ Ο ΔΗΜΟΣΘΕΝΗΣ ΜΙΧΑΛΕΝΤΖΑΚΗΣ ΣΤΟ ΔΟΥΒΛΙΝΟ". tvthrakiotis.gr. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  6. "Τρομερός Μιχαλεντζάκης! Τρίτο χρυσό μετάλλιο στο Παγκόσμιο". www.newsit.gr. Retrieved 2020-06-02.


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