Zuzanna Mazurek

Zuzanna Mazurek (born May 15, 1991, in Świdnik) is a Polish swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events.

Four months before the Games, she threw down a scorching time of 2:12.65 (200 m backstroke) to shave 1.78 seconds off the national record (2:14.43) previously set by Aleksandra Miciul in 2000 and clear the insurmountable FINA A-cut (2:12.73) by 0.08 of a second at the Polish Championships in Ostrowiec.

In the 100 m backstroke, Mazurek pulled away from the field to crush the Polish record in 1:02.77 for a victory over Guatemala's Gisela Morales in heat two by a 0.15-second margin, but finished farther from the semifinal field in thirty-sixth overall.

In the 200 m backstroke, Mazurek could not produce a similar effort from the initial half of the backstroke double, as she lost in a sprint challenge to Ireland's Melanie Nocher for the top spot in heat two, but managed to finish with a new national record in 2:12.46.

Mazurek missed the semifinals by nearly two seconds, as she placed twenty-first overall in the prelims.

Mazurek made her swimming history at the 2007 European Junior Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, claiming the bronze medal in the 200 m backstroke over her teammate Iwona Lefanowicz by 0.29 of a second with a time of 2:16.36.

She represented her nation Poland, as a 17-year-old, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has claimed multiple Polish records in both 100 and 200 m backstroke, which were eventually broken by Alicja Tchorz in the succeeding decade.

Mazurek also swam as a member of UKP Fala Kraśnik, under the tutelage of her coach Sławomir Pliszká.

By the following year, she won a gold medal in the same discipline at the 2008 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships in Monterrey, Mexico, smashing a meet record in 2:12.56.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Mazurek was selected to the Polish Olympic team in the pool, competing in a backstroke double.