Craig Stevens (swimmer)
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Australia |
|||
| Men's swimming | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Silver | 2004 Athens[1] | 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | |
| World Championships - Short Course | |||
| Gold | 2002 Moscow[2] | 4 x 200 m freestyle relay | |
| World Championships | |||
| Silver | 2007 Melbourne[3] | 800 m freestyle | |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| Bronze | 2002 Manchester[4] | 1500 m freestyle | |
Craig Stevens (born 23 July 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian freestyle swimmer specialising in the 400 m. 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events.
Stevens was the bronze medallist in the 1500 m freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, but he narrowly missed out on a medal in the 400 m freestyle, finishing 4th.
In 2004, Stevens made his Olympic Games debut at Athens. There, he won silver as part of the Australian 4x200 m relay team and also made the final in the 1500 m. He relinquished his place in the 400 m freestyle for World Record Holder Ian Thorpe, who was disqualified in the event at the Australian trials.
Stevens was initially left out of the Australian team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in his home country. However, Ian Thorpe had to withdraw from the games due to illness, which allowed Stevens to take Thorpe's place in the team. After qualifying as the fastest heat swimmer, he again came 4th in the 400 m freestyle final. He also contested the 1500 m freestyle final and finished in 6th place.
In March 2007, Stevens won his first World Championship medal after finishing 3rd in the 800m freestyle final with a personal best time of 7:48.67. At the same meet, he also broke the 15-minute barrier in the 1500m freestyle for the first time, finishing 6th in the final with a time of 14:59.11.
Stevens qualified for the Australian Olympic Swimming Team for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics on the 29th of March 2008 at the Australian Olympic Qualifiers at Homebush in Sydney. He qualified for both the 400 metres and 1500 metres freestyle events. He finished 2nd behind Grant Hackett in the 1500 metres with a Personal Best of 14:53.18 the third fastest time by an Australian in History.
[edit] External links
- Swimming Australia profile for Craig Stevens
[edit] References
- ^ 2004 Olympic Games swimming results. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
- ^ 2002 World Championships - Short Course Swim Rankings results. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ 12th FINA World Championships. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ BBC Sport Commonwealth Games 2002 Statistics. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
