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INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
7043-Charalampos Taiganidis photo

Charalampos Taiganidis

Greek flag
Greece
Swimming
10
5
3

Biography

Impairment information

Type of Impairment
Vision impairment
Classification
S12, SB12, SM12

Further personal information

Family
Partner Sofia, children Panagiotis-Gavriil and Eleni-Rafaela
Residence
Thessaloniki, GRE
Occupation
Athlete, Public Servant
Languages
English, Greek
Higher education
Physical Education - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki: Greece

Sport specific information

When and where did you begin this sport?
He took up the sport in 1985 at the Ethnikos Kozanis club in Greece.
Why this sport?
He began swimming to overcome his fear of water.

International debut

Year
2004
Competing for
Greece
Tournament
Paralympic Games
Location
Athens, GRE

General interest

Hobbies
Fishing, fitness, travelling, open water swimming, Para cycling. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019; Facebook profile, 22 Jan 2021)
Memorable sporting achievement
Winning two gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)
Most influential person in career
Coach Georgios Adaam, his family. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)
Hero / Idol
US swimmer Mark Spitz. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"Sport makes us strong, it enables us to manage things that we might never have imagined that we could achieve. Impairment is not a disease, we simply do things in our own way as every human being does." (urbanlife.gr, 12 Oct 2016)
Ambitions
To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 23 Jan 2021)
Impairment
In 2003 he was diagnosed with a degenerative visual condition. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)
Other information
OCCUPATION
He works as a civil servant in the police force in Greece. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)

Results

Unit Date Rank
IPC Swimming World Championships Eindhoven 2010 (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 3
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Heat 2 2
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Heat 2 2
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games (Beijing, China)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Heat 2 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 2
Men's 100 m Freestyle S13 Heat 2 1
Men's 100 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 1
Men's 400 m Freestyle S13 Heat 1 3
Men's 400 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 3
Men's 100 m Butterfly S13 Heat 3 1
Men's 100 m Butterfly S13 Final Round 2
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Heat 2 1
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Final Round 1
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM13 Heat 1 4
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM13 Final Round 2
IPC Swimming World Championships Durban 2006 (Durban, South Africa)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Heats 3
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Final Round 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Heats 2
Men's 400 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 1
Men's 100 m Butterfly S13 Heats 1
Men's 100 m Butterfly S13 Final Round 1
Men's 100 m Freestyle S13 Heats 2
Men's 100 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 1
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM13 Heats 1
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM13 Final Round 1
Men's 400 m Freestyle S13 Heats 2
Athens 2004 Paralympic Games (Athens, Greece)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Heat 2 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 2
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Heat 2 1
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Final Round 1
Men's 100 m Butterfly S13 Heat 1 1
Men's 100 m Butterfly S13 Final Round 1
London 2012 Paralympic Games (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Final Round 2012-09-01 7
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Heat 2 2012-09-01 4
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Heat 2 2012-09-03 2
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Final Round 2012-09-03 3
2013 IPC Swimming World Championships (Montreal, Canada)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Heat 1 2013-08-15 7
Men's 50 m Freestyle S13 Final 1 2013-08-15 8
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Heat 1 2013-08-17 6
Men's 100 m Backstroke S13 Final 1 2013-08-17 5
2015 IPC Swimming World Championships (Glasgow, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Backstroke S12 Final 1 2015-07-15 5
Men's 100 m Backstroke S12 Heat 1 2015-07-15 6
Men's 50 m Freestyle S12 Final 1 2015-07-18 8
Men's 50 m Freestyle S12 Heat 1 2015-07-18 8
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Backstroke S12 Final Round 2016-09-14 4
Men's 100 m Backstroke S12 Heat 2 2016-09-14 3
Men's 50 m Freestyle S12 Final Round 2016-09-17 6
Men's 50 m Freestyle S12 Heat 3 2016-09-17 3
Mexico City 2017 World Para Swimming Championships (Mexico City, Mexico)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Backstroke S12 Final 1 2017-12-02 1
Men's 100 m Backstroke S12 Heat 1 2017-12-02 2
Men's 100 m Butterfly S12 Final 1 2017-12-04 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S12 Final 1 2017-12-05 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S12 Heat 1 2017-12-05 3