Brendan Hansen

Brendan Joseph Hansen

Hansen in 2008.
Personal information
Full name Brendan Hansen
Nationality  United States
Born August 15, 1981 (1981-08-15) (age 30)
Haverford Township, Pennsylvania
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 189 pounds (86 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Stroke(s) Breaststroke
College team Texas Longhorns

Brendan Joseph Hansen (born August 15, 1981) is an American breaststroke swimmer and four-time (two gold, one silver, one bronze) Olympic medalist. He is a former world record holder in both the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke (long course).

He has won a total of twenty-three medals in major international competition, seventeen gold, four silver, and two bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

Contents

Biography

Hansen was born and grew up in Havertown, a suburb about 10 minutes away from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Haverford Senior High School. He swam for many different clubs, including Karakung Swim Club. His main stroke was breaststroke. Hansen's well known for his unique style of breaststroke, which incorporates a kick that is much narrower than the other swimmers, including his biggest rival, Kosuke Kitajima, who has consistently defeated Hansen.

Swimming career

2001-2003

At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Hansen won the 200 m breaststroke with a time of 2:10.69, a championship record.[1]

At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Hansen won gold in the 4×100 m medley relay, silver in the 100 m breaststroke, and bronze in the 200 m breaststroke. In his first event, the 100 m breaststroke, Hansen finished second to Kosuke Kitajima with a time of 1:00.21.[2] In his second event, the 200 m breaststroke, Hansen finished in third place with a time 2:11.11.[3] In the 4×100 m medley relay, Hansen swam his leg with a time of 59.61 and the American squad finished first with a world record time of 3:31.54.[4]

2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games

See also: Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics

Despite setting the world record in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke[5] at the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials, Hansen did not manage to win a gold medal in either event at the 2004 Summer Olympics, as he settled for silver in the 100[6] and bronze in the 200.[7] He would win a gold for his role in the world-record setting 4×100 medley relay.[8] His split on the relay turned out to be one of the fastest in history. There was controversy in Kosuke Kitajima's win in the 100 m breaststroke. The underwater cameras revealed an illegal dolphin kick at the start, which could have made the difference in the race. However, the dolphin kick went undetected by race officials, so the US Team could not lodge a protest.[9][10]

2005 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Hansen won gold in the 100 m breaststroke, 200 m breaststroke, and 4×100 m medley relay. In his first event, the 100 m breaststroke, Hansen won with a time of 59.37, a championship record.[11] In his second event, the 200 m breaststroke, Hansen won with a time of 2:09.85.[12] In the 4×100 m medley relay, Hansen swam his leg with a time of 59.33 and the American squad finished first with a time of 3:31.85.[13]

2006

At the 2006 ConocoPhillips National Championships, Hansen lowered both his world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke to 59.13 in the 100 m and 2:08.74 in the 200 m.

At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships held in Victoria, Canada, Hansen again lowered his world record time in the 200 m breaststroke to 2:08.50. It is notable that he was a quarter of a second behind his best time at the 150 m mark, but he came back 0.6 second faster with a 33.38.

2007 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Hansen won gold in the 100 m breaststroke and silver in the 50 m breaststroke. Hansen also was entered in the 200 m breaststroke but did not start. In the 100 m breaststroke, Hansen won with a time of 59.80, 0.16 faster than second place finisher Kosuke Kitajima.[14] This victory made him the first and so far only four-time breaststroke world champion (long course). In the 50 m breaststroke, Hansen place second with a time of 27.69, just 0.03 slower than first place finisher Oleg Lisogor.[15]

2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games

See also: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics

Hansen swam the 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, his only individual event, finishing in fourth place but earned a gold medal for his part in the 4×100 medley relay.[16] He lost the medal while on a flight home from a party in his hometown near Philadelphia to Austin. It was returned to him the following day.[17]

2011 Nationals

Hansen prepared for a comeback at the 2012 Olympic Games, winning the 100 meter breaststroke and 200 meter breaststroke at the U.S. Nationals with times of 1:00.08 and 2:10.59 respectively.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Teenager upsets Olympic medallists at swimming worlds". CBC Sports. July 26, 2001. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001/07/26/worlds010726.html. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  2. ^ "Men’s 100 m breaststroke results". July 21, 2003. http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2003/barcelona2003/F73_ResByHeat_106_Final_Men_100_Breast.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Men’s 200 m breaststroke results". July 24, 2003. http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2003/barcelona2003/F73_ResByHeat_120_Final_Men_200_Breast.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay results". July 27, 2003. http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2003/barcelona2003/F73_ResByHeat_140_Final_Men_4x100_Medley.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Brendan Hansen sets another world record during trials". http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2004/07/13/2003178878. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  6. ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (August 15, 2004). "Brendan Hansen takes silver in controversial 100M breaststroke.". The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8707287_ITM. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  7. ^ Hagen, Paul (August 18, 2004). "Hansen comes up short in 200-meter breaststroke.". The Philadelphia Daily News. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7145596_ITM. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  8. ^ Barry Svrluga (August 22, 2004). "U.S. Stirs a Medley of Perfection". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21510-2004Aug21.html. Retrieved July 18, 2009. 
  9. ^ "US team kicks over this result". The Boston Globe. August 16, 2004. http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/olympics/swimming_diving/articles/2004/08/16/us_team_kicks_over_this_result/. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  10. ^ "U.S. says swimmer used illegal kick". http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-97624959.html. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  11. ^ "Men’s 100 m breaststroke results". http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2005/montreal2005/F73_ResByHeat_106_Finals_Men_100_Breast.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  12. ^ "Men’s 200 m breaststroke results". http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2005/montreal2005/F73_ResByHeat_125_Finals_Men_200_Breast.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay results". http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2005/montreal2005/F73_ResByHeat_140_Finals_Men_4x100_Medley.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  14. ^ "Men’s 100 m breaststroke results". http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2007/melbourne2007/F73_ResByHeat_106_Finals_Men_100_Breast.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  15. ^ "Men’s 50 m breaststroke results". http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2007/melbourne2007/F73_ResByHeat_114_Finals_Men_50_Breast.pdf. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  16. ^ KAREN CROUSE (August 26, 2008). "EIGHT FOR PHELPS". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/sports/olympics/17phelpsweb.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved July 18, 2009. 
  17. ^ "Swimmer Hansen reunited with lost gold medal". http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26740871/. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 

External links

Records
Preceded by

Kosuke Kitajima		 Men's 100 metre breaststroke
world record holder (long course)
July 8, 2004 – August 11, 2008		 Succeeded by

Kosuke Kitajima
Preceded by

Kosuke Kitajima		 Men's 200 metre breaststroke
world record holder (long course)
July 11, 2004 – June 8, 2008		 Succeeded by

Kosuke Kitajima