Martha Matsa

Martha Matsa
Personal information
Full name Martha Matsa
National team  Greece
Born (1987-04-05) 5 April 1987
Thessaloniki, Greece
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
Club HAN Thessaloniki

Martha Matsa (Greek: Μάρθα Μάτσα; born April 5, 1987) is a Greek swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events.[1] She is a two-time Olympian (2004 and 2008), and a member of the swimming team for HAN Thessaloniki.

When her nation Greece hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Matsa made her Olympic debut as a 17-year-old, competing in two swimming events. She posted a FINA B-standard of 25.61 (50 m freestyle) from an Olympic test event at the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre.[2] On the first day of the Games, Matsa teamed up with Nery Mantey Niangkouara, Eleni Kosti, and Zoi Dimoschaki in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. She held liable for an early relay takeoff, when the Greeks had been disqualified from the heats.[3][4] Nearly a week later, in the 50 m freestyle, Matsa placed thirty-third on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat seven, she edged out Trinidad and Tobago's Sharntelle McLean to pick up a seventh spot by four-tenths of a second (0.40) in 26.46.[5][6]

On the 2nd June 2005, Martha Matsa tested positive to the substance Stanozolol (Class S.1 Anabolic Agents) following a doping control test. This was part of the Hellenic unannounced out-of-competition testing programme. Subsequent to that the Disciplinary Board of the Hellenic Swimming Federation imposed a sanction of two (2) years’ suspension on Ms. Matsa.[7]

Matsa swam only in the 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She achieved a FINA B-standard of 25.67 from the Greece National Open Championships in Tripoli.[8] She challenged seven other swimmers in heat nine, including Slovakia's top favorite and five-time Olympian Martina Moravcová. She raced again to seventh place in 25.68, just a slimmest margin off her entry time, and 0.03 of a second behind Ukraine's Oksana Serikova. Matsa failed to advance into the semifinals, as she matched her overall position from Athens in the prelims.[9]

Matsa was also selected as a reserve for the Greek squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but did not compete in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Her Greek teammates Niangkouara, Theodora Drakou, Theodora Giareni, and teen sensation Kristel Vourna failed to reach the top 8 final, finishing only in sixteenth place with a time of 3:45.55.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill. "Martha Matsa". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Swimming – Women's 50m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 7)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Women's 4×100m Freestyle Heat 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Stephen (14 August 2004). "Women's 400 Freestyle Relay Prelims: Aussie Women Qualify Fastest Ahead of Team USA; Germans and Dutch in the Mix". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Women's 50m Freestyle Heat 7". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Stephen (20 August 2004). "Women's 50 Freestyle, Prelims Day 7: Inky Sizzles in World Best 24.66, Joyce Next in PR 25.06, Jenny Thompson Makes It Too". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Fina Doping Results". FINA. Archived from the original on October 17, 2005. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Women's 50m Freestyle" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 44. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Women's 50m Freestyle Heat 9". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Greek athletes compete today in London". Greek Reporter. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.


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