Oveditio: swimming

Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Ian Thorpe Australian Swimmer

Ian James Thorpe OAM (born 13 October 1982), nicknamed the Thorpedo and Thorpey, is an Australian swimmer who specialises in freestyle, but also competes in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian, and with three gold and two silver medals, was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, he became the first person to win six gold medals in one World Championship.

In total, Thorpe has won eleven World Championship golds, the second-highest number of any swimmer. Thorpe was the first person to have been named Swimming World Swimmer of the Year four times, and was the Australian swimmer of the year from 1999 to 2003. His athletic achievements made him one of Australia's most popular athletes, and he was recognised as the Young Australian of the Year in 2000.

At the age of 14, he became the youngest male ever to represent Australia, and his victory in the 400 metre freestyle at the 1998 Perth World Championships made him the youngest ever individual male World Champion.[6] After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400 m freestyle, winning the event at every Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships until his break after the 2004 Olympics.

Aside from 13 individual long-course world records, Thorpe anchored the Australian relay teams, numbering the victories in the 4 × 100 m and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relays in Sydney, among his five relay world records. His wins in the 200 m and 400 m and his bronze in the 100 m freestyle in Athens have made him the only male to have won medals in the 100–200–400 combination.

After the Athens Olympics, Thorpe took a year away from swimming, scheduling a return for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. However, he was forced to withdraw due to illness. Subsequent training camps were interrupted, and he announced his retirement in November 2006, citing waning motivation.

From early 2011, there was much speculation about Thorpe's return to swimming, fuelled by people claiming to have seen him training. These speculations were finally substantiated when Thorpe called a press conference on 2 February 2011, where he spoke of his return to swimming for the London Olympic Games, after four years away from the pool.

Ian Thorpe

Friday, January 13, 2012

Ryan Lochte American Swimmer

Ryan Steven Lochte (born August 3, 1984) is an American swimmer and a six-time Olympic medalist (three gold, two silver, one bronze). As part of the American team, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course). Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 200-meter individual medley (long and short course) and the 400-meter individual medley (short course).

Lochte's success have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award and the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice. He has also been named the FINA Swimmer of the Year twice. He has won a total of fifty-seven medals in major international competition, thirty-seven gold, eleven silver, and nine bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan American, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle swimmer. He is noted for the speed and distance he attains while kicking underwater. Lochte is also known for his dominance in the short course format (25-meter long swimming pool).

Lochte said he was pleased with his performance at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships but feels that he can improve his times before the 2012 Olympics. "Getting five gold medals is definitely great, but the times that I went, I know I could go a lot faster," he said. "There are a lot of places in my races that I messed up on that I could have changed and gone faster, but I guess I have a whole year to make sure I have those perfect swims."

At year's end, Lochte was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine, and defended his titles from 2010. He was also named the best male swimmer for 2011 by FINA Aquatics World Magazine, and also defended this title.

Ryan Lochte

Adam Pine Australian Swimmer

Adam Pine (born 28 February 1976 in Lismore, New South Wales) is an Australian freestyle and butterfly swimmer. Adam is married to Sasha Pine and is the father of 3 children, Maximillian, Buster and Xander.

Pine competed for his native country in two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. That year he swam in the heats for the gold (4x100 m freestyle) and silver (4x100 m medley) medal winning relay teams from the home country. He also completed in the 2004 Summer Olympics which was held in Athens.

He swam in the 100m butterfly and was a member of the Australian 4x100m medley relay team, however this relay team failed to reach the finals. Pine recited the Athletes Oath at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, this was an appropriate gesture as he has won medals for Australia in the 3 Commonwealth Games leading up to the Melbourne games.

At the age of 31 he showed great form again and managed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the 100m buttefly (52.13). At the 2009 Rome World Championship trials (aka.Australian Long Course swimming trials) Pine swam in the finals finishing 2nd in the 100 butterfly.

This swim was under the A qualifying time for the world championships and earned himself a spot on the Australian World Championship Team Pine trains at CISAC in Bruce, ACT registered with the Ginninderra Marlins Swim Club. His coach is Jaan Murphy and trains 2-3 sessions a week.

Adam Pine