Carmen Bunaciu

Carmen Bunaciu

Bunaciu in 1979
Personal information
Born	(1961-09-15) 15 September 1961 Sibiu, Romania
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Club	CSS Sibiu (1968–1974) Dinamo București (1974–1986)
Medal record Representing Romania World Championships 1982 Guayaquil 200 m backstroke European Championships 1977 Jönköping 200 m backstroke 1981 Split 100 m backstroke 1983 Rome 100 m backstroke Summer Universiade 1979 Mexico City 100 m backstroke 1979 Mexico City 200 m backstroke 1981 Bucharest 100 m backstroke 1981 Bucharest 200 m backstroke 1985 Kobe 100 m backstroke 1981 Bucharest 4×100 m medley 1983 Edmonton 100 m backstroke 1983 Edmonton 200 m backstroke 1981 Bucharest 100 m butterfly 1985 Kobe 200 m backstroke

Carmen Bunaciu (born 15 September 1961) is a retired Romanian swimmer who won four bronze medals in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke at the European and World Championships of 1977–1982. She also competed in these events at the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics and finished fourth three times.

During her career she won 70 national titles and set 39 national records; as of 2012, her record in the 50 m butterfly set in 1986 remained unbeaten. Her bronze medal in 1982 was the first Romanian swimming title at World Championships.

In 1968 she started swimming in the CSS Sibiu club, and in 1974 moved to Bucharest to study in a boarding school. There she gained 19 cm within four years, reaching a height of 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in). In 1977, she became the first Romanian female athlete to swim 100 m within one minute.

After retirement from senior swimming in 1986 she worked as a swimming coach at Dinamo București, the club where she trained for 12 years. Between 1989 and 1992 she was also the head coach of the national team. She still swims daily, but does not compete due to problems with her back.