Anton M. Cerer (October 30, 1916 – May 25, 2006) was the first

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

n or

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

n swimmer to win a European medal. His career was interrupted by World War II, yet he competed at the Summer Olympics in 1936 and 1948 and European championships in 1938, 1947 and 1950. He won two European medals and finished fifth at the 1948 Olympics in the 200 m breaststroke event. He was born in

, formerly part of

, but in the 1950s emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Between 1983 and 2002 he competed in the masters category and dominated world championships in his age group (above 80) in breaststroke, butterfly and medley disciplines. He died after slipping in a pool in Cleveland, Ohio, aged 90, while training for the

FINA World Masters Championships The FINA World Masters Championships (or "Masters Worlds") is an international Aquatics championships for adults (per FINA rules, Masters are 25 years old and older). The championships is held biennially, with competition in all five of FINA's di ...

References

1916 births 2006 deaths Slovenian male swimmers Male breaststroke swimmers Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Yugoslavia Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Slovenian emigrants to the United States Yugoslav male swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming People from Kamnik Accidental deaths in Ohio Accidental deaths from falls {{Yugoslavia-swimming-bio-stub