| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Blondi |
| Nationality |  Poland |
| Born | (1976-11-05) 5 November 1976 (age 48) Mrągowo, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) |
| Sailing career | |
| Class | Dinghy |
| Club | AZS UWM Olsztyn |
| Coach | Tomasz Rumszewicz |
Rafał Szukiel (born 5 November 1976) is a Polish former sailor, who specialized in the Finn class. He represented his country Poland at the 2008 Summer Olympics and came closest to the medal haul in the final race of his signature fleet, rounding out the top-ten spot. A senior member of the sailing roster at the University of Warmia and Mazury's sport academy in Olsztyn (Polish: AZS Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie), Szukiel trained most of his competitive sporting career under the tutelage of his personal coach Tomasz Rumszewicz.
Szukiel competed for the Polish sailing squad in the Finn class at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A few months earlier, he was selected over the quota recipient and his older brother Wacław to lock the country's top Finn berth for the Games, based on his aggregate scores in a lineup of international regattas sanctioned by the Polish Yachting Association. Szukiel opened a set of two races with a blistering runner-up finish to head the leaderboard. Amid a streak of lowly marks and a suspension of the last two legs because of inclement weather, he found the best pressure to steer his way to fifth in the final race. Szukiel's cumulative marks attained in the series, however, dropped him steadily to tenth overall with 82 net points.
References
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rafał Szukiel". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ "ME Finn: Rafał Szukiel w dziesiątce" [Finn Gold Cup: Rafał Szukiel finishes in the top ten]. zagle.se.pl (in Polish). Żagle. 23 June 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- Urbanowicz, Dariusz (8 August 2008). "ME Finn: Rafał Szukiel w dziesiątce" [Rafał Szukiel on the day before]. zagle.se.pl (in Polish). Żagle. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- "Poland Lead After Day One In The Finn". World Sailing. 11 July 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- "Beijing 2008: Mixed Finn Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
External links
- Rafał Szukiel at World Sailing
- Rafał Szukiel at Olympics.com
- Rafał Szukiel at Olympedia (archive)
- Rafal Szukiel at NBC 2008 Olympics website at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 July 2012)
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