Michal Rubáček (born 19 December 1986) is a Czech swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a multiple-time Czech national record holder for the butterfly events (50, 100, and 200 m).
Rubacek made his first Czech team, as a 17-year-old, at the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, where he competed only in butterfly and relay freestyle events. He also joined with his fellow swimmers
Květoslav Svoboda
Květoslav Svoboda () (born 25 August 1982 in Znojmo) is an Olympic freestyle swimmer from the Czech Republic. He swam for the Czech Republic at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics.Josef Horký, and Martin Škacha in the men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Swimming the lead-off leg, Rubacek recorded a split of 1:51.37, and the Czech team went on to finish heat two in seventh place and thirtieth overall, for a total time of 7:26.26. Few days later, Rubacek won the second heat of the men's 100 m butterfly by approximately one second ahead of Uzbekistan's Oleg Lyashko, with a time of 54.87 seconds. Finishing only in thirty-ninth place, Rubacek failed to qualify for the semifinals.
At the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
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Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, Rubacek qualified for the second time in the men's 100 m butterfly, by clearing a FINA B-cut of 53.71 from the
European Championships
A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs.
In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
in
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also located in the Dutch part of the natural region the Campine. With a population ...
. He challenged seven other swimmers in the fourth heat, including three-time Olympians Ioan Gherghel of Romania and
Juan Veloz
Juan José Veloz Dávila (born 24 September 1982 in Mexico City, Mexico) is an Olympic and national record-holding swimmer for Mexico. He swam for his native country at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), off ...
of Mexico. Rubacek raced to fourth place by five hundredths of a second (0.05) ahead of Veloz, breaking a new Czech record of 53.53 seconds. Rubacek failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-second out of 66 swimmers in the preliminaries.
At the
2009 FINA World Championships
The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994.
The 20 ...
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Rome, Italy
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Rubacek dipped under a 52-second barrier, and lowered his record to 51.99 seconds in the preliminary heats of the 100 m butterfly. Few weeks later, he won a bronze medal in the same stroke at the
Summer Universiade
The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...
in
Belgrade, Serbia
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, posting his time at 52.33 seconds.
On 27 March 2012 Rubacek ordered a two-year suspension from the Czech Swimming Federation (, ''CSPS''), after he was tested positive for a banned stimulant
methylhexanamine
Methylhexanamine (also known as methylhexamine, 1,3-dimethylamylamine, 1,3-DMAA, dimethylamylamine, and DMAA; trade names Forthane and Geranamine) is an indirect sympathomimetic drug invented and developed by Eli Lilly and Company and marketed ...