Sara Isaković
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Sara Isaković |
| Nationality |
 Slovenia |
| Born |
9 June 1988 Bled, SR Slovenia, Slovenia |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 60 kg (130 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
| Club | Plavalni Klub Radovljica |
| College team | University of California, Berkeley |
Medal record
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Sara Isaković (born 9 June 1988) is a retired Slovenian swimmer. In 2008 Beijing Olympics, at the age of 20, she placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle with the time of 1.54.97, being the second woman ever (behind Federica Pellegrini) to brake the 1 min 55 sec mark. Bringing home her Silver medal, was a historic moment for Slovenian sports. It is still, to this day, the only swimming Olympic medal won for Slovenia.
Being raised by a Slovenian mother and Serbian father, the family together with her twin brother Gal traveled all around the world due to her father's profession (Pilot/Examiner on Emirates B777). This finally led them to settle in Dubai, where Sara spent most of her childhood. Growing up she attended international schools, with the dream being to one day pursue studies in the US where she could combine both athletics and academics at a world class level. Her biggest dream, however, was winning an Olympic medal.
After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she moved to Berkeley, California, where she attended University of California Berkeley and represented the Cal Women's swim team, under the leadership of Teri McKeever, during her college years. In her four years of being a student-athlete, she won 3 National Team Titles and individually won 100 butterfly at NCAA's during her Senior year at Cal. Sara graduated with a degree in Psychology, in May 2013. She then pursued a research career in neuropsychology at the UC San Diego department of Psychiatry. Sara was a part of the Opti-Brian lab, led by Dr. Martin Paulus, where their goal was to discover the underlying brain mechanisms of resilience in elite performing individuals. Two studies have been published (in Biological Psychology and Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience), making Sara a published researcher within well-known and respected scientific journals. In May 2016 she graduated with honours from her masters degree in Performance Psychology, a field she is most passionate about and continues to work in.
Sara moved back to Dubai, where she is now building her career in performance psychology and helping performers of all types achieve their maximum potential.
Isaković competed for Slovenia at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and the 2012 London Olympics.
Biggest career achievements:
2004- 2x European Junior Champion (Lisbon)
2004- Youngest member of the Athens Slovenian Olympic Team, at the age of 16.
2005- 2 Silver medals at Almeria, Spain, Mediterranean Games.
2005- First Slovenian woman to final at World Swimming Championships, in Montreal. (5th place 200 freestyle)
2007- 7th place in 200 butterfly at Melbourne World Championships
2008- First woman in Slovenian swimming to win a European Championships title- 200 freestyle
2008- Silver Medal at Beijing Olympics
2009- Semi-finalist at World Championships in Rome
2010- Gold medal at University Games, Belgrade- 200 freestyle, Finalist at European Championships
2011- Semi-finalist at World Championships in Shanghai- 200 freestyle
2012- Bronze medalist at European Championships, Debrecen- 4x200 freestyle relay
2012- Semi-finalist at London Olympic Games- 200 freestyle