Velimir Stjepanović

Velimir Stjepanović is a Serbian swimmer who competes mainly in freestyle and butterfly events. He was born on 7 August 1993 in Abu Dhabi to Bosnian Serb parents and chose to represent Serbia in international competition. He took up swimming at about six years old for fitness, and after a short spell of coaching from Chris Tidey in Dubai he won his first medal, a bronze, at a meet in England. At the 2010 Youth Olympic Games he carried the Serbian flag and won silver in the 100 metre freestyle and bronze in the 100 metre butterfly, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia named him the country's best young athlete that year. At the 2012 London Olympics he broke the Serbian national record in the heats of the 200 metre butterfly and finished sixth in the final. He won three gold medals at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin, in the 200 and 400 metre freestyle and the 200 metre butterfly, and added a European short course title in the 200 metre butterfly and a short course world bronze in the 400 metre freestyle in Doha in 2014. Later he swam for DC Trident in the International Swimming League and, in 2024, won European Championships gold as part of Serbia's 4x100 metre freestyle relay.