Španja Mihovil

Sport	Swimming
NPC	Croatia
Gender	Male
Born	20 Apr 1984 in Dubrovnik
Disability Information
Disability Class	S7
Origin of Disability	Illness
Type of Disability	Les Autres
Residence	Dubrovnik, CRO
Languages	Croatian, English
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport?	He started swimming at age one
Why this sport?	He started swimming to help with his disability and because he was born near the sea.
Club / Team	VK Jug: Dubrovnik, CRO
Name of coach	Dean Kontic
General Interest
Nicknames	Miho, Mihi. (IPC, 13 Oct 2009; adventure-sport.net, 7 Dec 2005)
Memorable sporting achievement	He once drove all night from Croatia to the Czech Republic so that he could finish his exams in Dubrovnik and then compete in the European Cup in Brno the next day. Despite arriving at the pool with minutes to spare he still managed to take two gold medals that day and then two more on the following day. (adventure-sport.net, 7 Dec 2005)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"Veni, vidi, vici. [I came, I saw, I conquered]." (hpo.hr, 13 Oct 2009)
Awards and honours	In May 2009 he set the world record for the 50m breaststroke in the SB7 classification in Berlin. (ipc-swimming.org, 13 Oct 2009) In April 2008 he set the world record for the 50m breaststroke in the SB7 classification in Dubrovnik. (dnevnik.hr, 20 Apr 2008) He was awarded Best Sportsman with Disabilities in Croatia in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005 by the Croatian Disabled Sports Association. (unidu.hr, 13 Oct 2009) He was awarded the Franjo Bucar award in 2004 by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. (public.mzos.hr, 13 Oct 2009) He was presented with the Redom Danice hrvatske [Order of the Croatian Danica] in 2004 by Croatian President Stjepan Mesic. (unidu.hr, 13 Oct 2009)
Other sports	Before focusing on swimming he played water polo and helped his team of South Dubrovnik win the Croatian Cup in 1997. (adventure-sport.net, 7 Dec 2005)
Other information	POLIO-His disability is a result of contracting polio as an infant, causing atrophy in his right leg. (vecernji.hr, 13 Oct 2009)
Competition Highlights (historical)
Paralympic Games  Rank  Year  Event Result  3  2004  400m Freestyle S8 4:48.88  3  2004  100m Backstroke S8 1:13.49  3  2004  200m Individual Medley SM8 2:39.62 ParaPan American Games    2003 400m Freestyle S8 4:51.58    2003 100m Backstroke S8 1:14.69  1  2003 100m Breaststroke SB7 1:33.02    2003 200m Individual Medley SM8 2:42.93 World Championships  3  2002 400m Freestyle S8 4:56.04  2  2002 100m Backstroke S8 1:13.36  3  2006 100m Backstroke S8 1:12.92  1  2010 400m Freestyle S7 4:47.39  1  2010 100m Breaststroke SB6 1:25.11  2  2010 100m Backstroke S7 1:12.86  2  2010 200m Individual Medley SM7 2:37.32 World Championships Short Course 1 2009 100m Backstroke S7 1:11.14 2 2009 100m Breaststroke SB6 1:23.73 2 2009 100m Individual Medley SM7 1:13.40 1 2009 200m Individual Medley SM7 2:34.31