Quick Facts
Biography
Maria Papadopoulou (Greek: Μαρία Παπαδοπούλου; born September 8, 1980) is a Cypriot former swimmer who specialized in butterfly events. She set a Cypriot record of 1:01.67 to earn a bronze medal in the 100 m butterfly at the 2001 Mediterranean Games in Tunis, Tunisia.
Papadopoulou made her first Cypriot team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she competed in the women's 100 m butterfly, held on the first day of preliminaries. She broke a 1:02 barrier to top the third heat with a time of 1:01.64, but finished only in thirty-second place.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Papadopoulou qualified again for the women's 100 m butterfly by eclipsing a FINA B-standard entry time of 1:01.76. She challenged seven other swimmers on the second heat, including five-time Olympian Mette Jacobsen of Denmark. She edged out Iceland's Kolbrún Yr Kristjánsdóttir to pick up a fourth spot by 0.32 of a second in 1:02.01. Papadopoulou failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed twenty-ninth overall on the first day of preliminaries.
Papadopoulou is a former member of the swimming team for Arizona Wildcats, and a graduate of management information systems at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.