Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

After her illustrious pool swimming career, 32-year-old Éva Risztov has resurrected herself as an Olympic marathon swimmer.

After qualifying for her native Hungary’s Olympic swim team in the 400m and 800m freestyle, Risztov added the 10 km marathon swim to her Olympic schedule due to her close second-place finish to Haley Anderson at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier in Setubal Bay, Portugal.

During her pool swimming career, she finished fourth in the 2004 Athens Olympics in the 400m individual medley, four silver medals at the 2002 European Swimming Championships, three silver medals at the 2003 World Swimming Championships, and several other medals at international competitions, Risztov retired in 2005. But since she announced her comeback in 2009 as an open water swimmer, she has adjusted to the new environment and competitive situations rather quickly and very well. Utilizing her years of experience, the 57-time Hungarian national champion finished a close second in Portugal, just out-touching teammate Anna Olasz to qualify for the Olympic 10km Marathon Swim where her presence will have an impact.

Congratulations for an Olympic dream come true…now onto the world’s stage…again.

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