ZAGREB, 13 June 2022 - Dino Sinovčić of Croatia won the gold on Sunday in the men's 100 m backstrokes at the World Para Swimming Championships taking place in Funchal, Portugal.

Matias de Andrade came second and the bronze went to Italian para swimmer Antonio Fantin.

Sinovčić thud defended his title after he became the world champion in this swimming event in London in 2019.

Sinovčić won a bronze in the men's 100m backstroke S6 at the Tokyo Paralympics.

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September 3, 2021 - Yet another medal for the Croatia team at the Tokyo Paralympics arrived today, thanks to Paralympic swimmer Dino Sinovčić!

Croatia's best paralympic swimmer Dino Sinovčić (29) won the bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke in the S6 category at the Paralympic Games. This is the first swimming medal for Croatia at these Paralympic Games.

Sinovčić convincingly won in his qualifying group with a result of 1:16.74, and later in the final, he achieved a time of 1:15.74, which was enough for the bronze medal. 

A new world record and the gold medal was won by China's Hongguang Jia with a time of 1:12.72, and the silver by Argentina's Matias de Andrade (1:15.40).

Sinovčić is the current world champion in that discipline after celebrating in London in 2019 with a result of 1:15.46. This year, he was second at the European Championships in Portugal, while in 2018, he also became the European champion in Dublin.

These are his second Paralympic Games after Rio de Janeiro, where he was fifth in the 100-meter backstroke.

"This is something phenomenal; at the moment, there is no one happier than me. I know many will think it's just bronze, but I should be proud to be here at all. After I entered the finals, I had to fight for the medal, and there is nothing better than winning it, said the Mornar Split swimmer.

Sinovčić arrived in Tokyo as the current world, former European, and current European runner-up. He was also one of the candidates for a medal in Tokyo.

"It means nothing because I was a world champion two years ago. Every race is new proof. To win a medal in a competition is the dream of every athlete; for me, this is the realization of all dreams."

Croatian Athletics has two medals at the Paralympics in Tokyo thanks to Velimir Šandor and Ivan Katanušić. In addition, the Croatia table tennis team of Anđela Mužinić and Helena Dretar Karić won the bronze medal earlier this week. 

Source:  HRT

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November 3, 2019 - By the decision of the Croatian Paralympic Committee, the first Croatian Paralympian to secure a spot in Tokyo next year is Dino Sinovcic, a member of PK Cipal from Split, who won the gold medal at the WPS World Paralympic Championship in the Queen Elizabeth Aquatic Center, discipline S6, on September 12 in London.

“It is an exceptional honor for me to be the first athlete to secure the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and secondly, the responsibility to show up in the best light and to be as ready as possible when needed,” Sinovcic said to Dalmacija Danas about the success of securing the Paralympics games.

He added that he is aware of what awaits him in Japan:

“After the games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, I roughly know what awaits me in the ‘land of the rising sun’. I will do my best to prepare myself in every segment of my performance. Until then, I must fully commit to swimming and implement my coach Slobodan Glavcic’s program with the ultimate goal of winning a Paralympic medal,” Sinovcic concluded.

Coach Slobodan Glavcic spoke about his work with Dino Sinovcic: 

“I started working with Dino in 2006 when Dino was 14 years old. He was eager to learn then, and I used that to master the swimming technique on his back properly and to perfection. His disability, arthrogryposis, and frequent injuries did not allow him to swim the breaststroke and butterfly. So we didn't force freestyle swimming."

About Dino's approach to Paralympic swimming, Glavcic added:

“Dino is a great professional. Not one contract, not one training, and not one action went badly. Namely, during our trip, we were not focused solely on swimming. On Thursday, he took his final exam at the professional study of the Faculty of Kinesiology in Split, in swimming direction, so that it is a reality and a diploma by the end of the year."

Glavcic also spoke about plans for Tokyo: 

“Outside of the World Paralympic Championships in London, which booked him a spot in Tokyo, by the decision of the HPO Executive Board on September 19, he confirmed his spot, thus becoming the first Croatian Paralympian with a visa for Tokyo. We have a short break until the start of the POI preparations, which start on November 4th with a week's departure to Sarajevo and then continue to Dubrovnik. A key part of the preparations is the Body & Mind studio for three weeks and injury prevention training in Zagreb on December 1st so that Dino Sinovcic can complete the training plan and program without fear of injury next year.

Dino opens the next season with a performance at the Cro Open in Split on January 25 and 26. After that, he’ll work to the maximum to hopefully win the gold at the European Championships in Portugal in May. 

Until then, we will be competing in world series competitions in Lignan and Berlin. We then turn to the final preparations for the Paralympic Games. I hope that on September 4th, when the 100-meter backstroke race is held at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, we will look forward to Dino’s medal,” concluded Slobodan Glavcic. 

At the moment, Croatian can confirm two representatives for the Paralympic Games, Split's Dino Sinovcic and Ivan Mikulic.

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September 13, 2019 - Croatian Paralympian Dino Sinovcic won the 100m backstroke gold medal in the S6 category at the WPS World Paralympic Championships in London!

Index.hr reports that Sinovic won at the Queen Elizabeth Aquatic Center with a time of 1:15.46, ahead of the Chinese swimmer Hong Yang who swam a time of 1:15.47 for the silver, and Argentine Matias De Andrade, who swam a time of 1:16.91 for the bronze. 

"I'm overjoyed. It was really the subtle differences that decided this great result, because I was only a hundredth of a second faster than Hong Yang,” Sinovcic said.

The member of Split’s PK Cipal swam faster in the final than in the qualifiers where he had the second-best time (1:16.90) behind Argentine De Andrade (1:15.65).

Dino won the gold at the European Championships in Dublin last August with a time of 1:16.08. For Sinovcic, it was the second medal from the European Championships after he was third in Reykjavik in 2009. Dino was also fifth in the last Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"After the European gold from Dublin last year, I won the gold tonight. No one is happier than I am. Now, as I prepare for Tokyo, I must bypass any injury, and I believe I will be ready to attack the Paralympic gold as well," said the young Split native.

“Congratulations to Dino Sinovcic on a wonderful race and a gold medal, and congratulations to the whole team and especially to coach Slobodan Glavcic! The Republic of Croatia, HPO, HPPS, ŠSI City of Split and Swimming Club "Cipal" Split have the WORLD swimming champion!” wrote PK Cipal on their Facebook page. 

Two more Croatian swimmers competed in Thursday’s qualifications. Tommy Brajsa finished 12th in the S4 50m backstroke with a time of 57.97, while Ante Raja finished 10th in the S7 100m backstroke with a time of 1:18.91.

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Croatian swimmer Dino Sinovčić won the 100m gold medal at the World Para Swimming European Championships, held from August 13 to 19 in Dublin.