Kacper Stokowski

Stokowski was born in Warsaw, Poland on 6 January 1999, and attended High School No. LIX Mistrzotwa Sportowego. Stating his prep school record in greater detail, at the 2017 FINA World Jr. Championships he captured a bronze medal with a time of 25.38 in the 50-meter backstroke and captured a fifth place in the 100 meter backstroke, recording a time of 55.04. At the 2016 European Jr. Swimming Championships, he captured a gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:48.51. == Collegiate swimming ==

Stokowski attended Florida State University for the 2018–19 school year where he swam under Head Coach Anthony Nesty, a former Olympic champion, and was rated as the top 2018 recruit and the top recruit from Poland. He then transferred to North Carolina State, where he completed most of his collegiate career. After transferring Stokowski attended North Carolina State University and swam under Head Coach Braden Holloway where he had an exceptional collegiate swimming career. In 2022, Stokowski was an NCAA Champion in the 100 backstroke, and the following year won an NCAA Championship in the 200 medley relay. Between 2021 and 2024, he was an All-American twenty times, winning events primarily in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200, 400, and 800 Medley Relay, as well as the 100 butterfly. Stokowski was an Atlantic Coast Conference champion nine times in the 100 backstroke and 400 medley relay, also winning a title in the 200 medley relay in 2023. == International competition ==

He won a gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 2016 European Junior Swimming Championships. He was the former junior world record holder in the 50- and 100 metre backstroke (short course). ==Olympics==

Stokowski qualified for both the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a participant for Poland. 2020 Tokyo Olympics In the 2020 Olympics, he placed 23rd in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 53.99 placing first in the second preliminary heat, though he did not make the finals, and his time was around 1.7 seconds from contending for a bronze medal. Russian swimmers, known as the Russian Olympic Committee team, placed both first and second in the competition with American Ryan Murphy taking the bronze medal. His team placed ninth in the 4x100 meter medley with a combined time of 3:32.62, with Kacper swimming the leadoff leg with the Polish team of Jan Kozakiewicz, Jakub Majerski, and Jakub Kraska. The United States took the gold medal, followed by Great Britain with the Silver, and Italy winning the bronze with a time of 3:29.17. ==References==