Paul Biedermann
Biedermann in Netanya, Israel, 2015 | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Paul Biedermann |
Nickname(s) | "Superman" |
National team |
|
Born |
Halle, East Germany | 7 August 1986
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Weight | 97 kg (214 lb) |
Website | Paul-Biedermann.de |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Freestyle |
Club | SV Halle |
Coach | Frank Embacher[1] |
Medal record
|
Paul Biedermann (born 7 August 1986) is a German retired competitive swimmer, a 400 metre freestyle long course world champion, and former 200 metre freestyle long course world champion. He holds the long course and short course world records in the 200 meters freestyle, and the long course world record in the 400 meters freestyle.
Career
In 2008, Biedermann was ranked 9th in the world in the 200 m freestyle and 21st in the world in the 400 m freestyle.[2] He won the 200 m freestyle long course at the 2008 European Aquatics Championships final, finishing in a time of 1:46.59. His times for the 400 m freestyle (3:47.69) and 200 m freestyle (NR in 1:46.37) qualified him for the Olympic Games in Beijing. At the Olympics, he placed fifth in the 200 m freestyle final (1:46.00) and 17th overall in the 400 m freestyle (3:48.03).
2009 Long Course and 2010 Short Course World Championships
On 26 July 2009, Biedermann won the 400 m freestyle final at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships. He passed 1500 m Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli in the final 50 metres and finished with a time of 3:40.07, shaving nearly three seconds off his own personal best and bettering Ian Thorpe's 2002 world record by one-hundredth of a second.[3] On 28 July, he claimed his second gold of the meet in the 200 m freestyle, defeating Michael Phelps in a world record time of 1:42.00 and cutting more than four seconds off of his time since last year.[4] Many criticise the authenticity of Biedermann's world records in the 200m and 400m freestyle, as they were swam with the now banned "super-suits" that were proven to give an unfair advantage particularly over the longer distance freestyle races.
In the 2010 Short Course Worlds, Biedermann won gold in the 400 m freestyle, beating Oussama Mellouli again in a race that unfolded almost identically to their race in Rome the previous year. In the 200 m freestyle, although he was the world record holder, he only placed 5th. He was over a second behind the first-place finisher Ryan Lochte.
2011 Long Course World Championships
Biedermann collected bronze medals in the 200 m freestyle, 400 m freestyle, and 4 × 100 m medley relay, as well as finishing 4th in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was out-touched by Michael Phelps by 0.09 seconds in the individual 200 m freestyle. However, Biedermann got the better of Phelps in the relay lead-off leg by beating him by 0.33 seconds.
2012 Summer Olympics
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the 200 m freestyle, finishing 5th (0.6 seconds from a medal);[5] the 400 m freestyle; and the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay as a member of the German team that finished 4th.
2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he competed in the 200 m freestyle where he finished in 6th place.[6] He also competed as part of the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay team which finished in 6th place.[7]
Personal bests
- 200 m freestyle: 1:42.00 (28 July 2009) WR
- 400 m freestyle: 3:40.07 (26 July 2009) WR
See also
References
- ↑ Lord, Craig (December 3, 2015). "Marco Koch Scares WR After German Mate Paul Biedermann's Golden S/C Swansong". Swimvortex. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ↑ Amy Shipley (29 July 2009). "At Worlds, 'It's Not About the Swimmer'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- ↑ Meadows, Mark (26 July 2009). "Biedermann smashes 400 freestyle world record". Reuters.com. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ↑ "Brilliant Biedermann beats Phelps". BBC Sport. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ↑ "Swimming at the 2012 London Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Freestyle Final | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ↑ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ↑ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Biedermann. |
- (in German) Official website
- Results from DSV
- Paul Biedermann at Swimrankings.net
- Profile at i-swimmer.ru
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill. "Paul Biedermann". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011.
Records | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Ian Thorpe |
Men's 200 metre freestyle world record holder (short course) 15 November 2008 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Preceded by Ian Thorpe |
Men's 400 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 26 July 2009 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Preceded by Michael Phelps |
Men's 200 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 28 July 2009 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Preceded by Grant Hackett |
Men's 400 metre freestyle world record holder (short course) 24 November 2009 – 15 November 2012 |
Succeeded by Yannick Agnel |
Awards | ||
Preceded by Alain Bernard |
European Swimmer of the Year 2009 |
Succeeded by Camille Lacourt |
Preceded by Matthias Steiner |
German Sportsman of the Year 2009 |
Succeeded by Sebastian Vettel |