| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1961-12-30)December 30, 1961 (age 63) Ghent, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Carine Verbauwen (born December 30, 1961)[1] is aBelgian swimmer. She had the best styles for the 100 and 200 meterbackstroke.
Her swimming career began at the age of ten. She swam in MZV Eeklo.
In 1975, she was the first Belgium winner at the European Junior Championships with a silver medal for 800m freestyle. The next year, she also won two silver medals.[2]
As a fourteen-year-old, she was present at the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal.[3] In theWomen's 4x100 metersmedley, her class was not in the heats with a time of 4:30.78. She swam her 100m backstroke and did wonders in 1:07.41 yielding a Belgian record. She also performed in the 400 meterfreestyle, 800 meter freestyle and the 4 x 100 meter freestyle.
At the1980 Summer Olympics[4] inMoscow, she won fifth place in the final of the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:03.82 and a sixth place in the final of the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:16.66. In the women's 4x100 meter medley, she managed a team ofYolande van der Straeten,Brigitte Bosmans and her sisterPascale Verbauwen but did not get beyond in the heats with a time of 4:26.33. She put her 100mbutterfly set in 1:04.38. She also performed in the 100 meter freestyle.
Her time of 1:03.82 in the 100m backstroke set a Belgian record that would stand untilSilke Van Hoof surpassed it in 2008 inAntwerp with an improved time of 1:02.86.
In 1975, 1978 and 1979, she was elected Belgian Sportswoman of the Year. She was thus the first woman who won the accolade in 1975. In 2000, she was in another selection of theBelgian Professional Association of Sports Journalists in sixth place asAthlete of the Century. In 2009, she was one of the top athletes in the programEternal Fame.
Carine Verbauwen is the daughter of multiple Belgian champion swimmersHerman Verbauwen (1944) andFrancine Delaunoy (Belgian champion 100m butterfly), and sister of Pascale Verbauwen, also a swimmer. Carine Verbauwen is currently the head coach at theRoyal Ghent Swimming Club, training swimmers such asRami Anis.[5] She is mother of two children.
In 2016, Carine Verbauwen served as a coach to theRefugee Olympic Team inRio de Janeiro,Brazil.[6]
She improved on several occasions the Belgian record time
Belgian female Athlete of the Year (1975, 1978 & 1979)[7]
