Eva Lehtonen

Eva Lehtonen (born June 6, 1991) is a Finnish competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle events.[1] Lehtonen holds five Finnish records in the same stroke, including a 1500 m freestyle record that dated back to 1983, before she set a mark of 17:18.16 at the 2007 USA Junior National Meet in Indianapolis, Indiana.[2][3][4]

Eva Lehtonen
Personal information
Full nameEva Lehtonen
National team Finland
Born (1991-06-06) 6 June 1991
Helsinki, Finland
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight60 kg (130 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubOakland Live Y'ers (U.S.)
College teamUniversity of Florida
Florida Gulf Coast University
CoachJeff Cooper (club)

Representing her birth nation Finland, Lehtonen competed in a long-distance freestyle double at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She finished with a top-eight fastest time of 4:19.53 (400 m freestyle) and 8:52.20 (800 m freestyle), respectively, to beat the FINA B-cut at the Texas Senior Circuit in College Station, Texas.[5][6] In the 400 m freestyle, Lehtonen rallied from behind at the start to hold off a fast-charging Puerto Rican swimmer Kristina Lennox-Silva to take the third spot in heat two and thirty-fifth overall by a tenth of a second (0.10) with 4:20.07.[7] Five days later, in the 800 m freestyle, Lehtonen tried to maintain her pace smoothly over El Salvador's Golda Marcus throughout the race with only 250 metres to go in heat one, before fading down the stretch to touch the wall with a third-place time and thirty-third overall in 8:53.50.[8]

Since 2008, Lehtonen was previously a member of the swimming team for the Florida Gators swimming and diving team of the University of Florida, before she transferred to Florida Gulf Coast University and joined the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in 2011.[4][9] She is currently a biomedical engineering major at the Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. Lehtonen currently resides with her family in Rochester, Michigan, and trains full-time at the Oakland Live Y'ers Swimming Club under her coaches Jeff Cooper and Dan Hafner.

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Eva Lehtonen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  2. "USA Junior Nationals: Meet Wraps Up With Several More Meet Records; 24-year-old Finnish Record Falls in Women's 1500 Free". Swimming World Magazine. 10 August 2007. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  3. "USA Swimming Sectionals, Indianapolis: Day One Finals Complete". Swimming World Magazine. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  4. Binninger, Andrew (18 January 2011). "Swim team reels in UF transfer, former Olympian". Eagle News. Florida Gulf Coast University. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  5. "Texas Senior Circuit Champions Day 3". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  6. "Eva Lehtonen alitti kaksi Pekingin B-tulosrajaa" [Eva Lehtonen fell below the two Beijing B-earnings limit] (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 29 March 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  7. "Women's 400m Freestyle Heat 2". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  8. "Women's 800m Freestyle Heat 1". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  9. "Former Gator Lehtonen Transfers to FGCU". College Swimming News. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
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