Garrett Weber-Gale

Garrett Weber-Gale

Standing (l to r): Jason Lezak, Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones behind Michael Phelps at September 3, 2008 taping of season-opening September 8, 2008 Oprah Winfrey Show.
Personal information
Full name Garrett Weber-Gale
Nickname(s) G-dubs, G, Weber-Grill
Nationality  United States
Born August 6, 1985 (1985-08-06) (age 26)
Stevens Point, WI, USA
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Stroke(s) Freestyle
Club Longhorn Aquatics
College team Texas Longhorns

Garrett Weber-Gale (born August 6, 1985) is an American Olympic swimmer who won two gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Contents

Early life

Weber-Gale is Jewish,[1] and was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He competed for the University of Texas from 2003–07. In 2006, he was the NCAA Division I Champion in the 100y freestyle.[2]

Swimming career

He won the 100 and 50 meter freestyles at the 2008 US Olympic Trials in 47.92 and 21.47 seconds respectively. His time of 21.47 in the 50 was an American record.[3] By clocking a time of 47.78 in the prelims of the 100 freestyle at the Trials, he became the first American to break 48 seconds in that event.[4]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Weber-Gale was as a member of the 4×100 m freestyle relay team in a final that has been heralded as the best relay in the history of swimming.[5] He was the second leg of that relay and had a split of 47.02 as the US won the gold ahead of pre-race favorite France.[6] Weber-Gale also earned a gold medal for his contribution in the heats of the 4×100m medley relay.[7][8] Weber-Gale also competed in both the 50m and 100m freestyle events but did not advance past the semifinals of either one.[9][10]

At the 2009 USA Nationals and World Championships trials, Weber-Gale placed third in the 100 m freestyle in 48.19. He also tied for second with Cullen Jones in the 50m freestyle in 21.55, which required a swim-off to decide who would get to compete in the event at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome. Jones won the swim-off in 21.41, which broke Weber-Gale's American record in the event.[11]

At the 2009 World Championships, Weber-Gale swam the lead-off leg of the 4×100 m freestyle preliminaries in 48.30. He earned a gold medal in the event when the US placed first in the final.[12]

Miscellaneous

Weber-Gale began his competitive career as a YMCA age-group swimmer at the Schroeder Y in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. He refined his stroke training in Austin, Texas, swimming with Circle C (now Longhorn Aquatics). In 2003, he set a national public high school record while at Nicolet High School in the 100-yard (91 m) freestyle with a time of 43.49.[13] He is a four-time Wisconsin State Champion, twice in the backstroke and once in the freestyle.[14]

Weber-Gale also was a multiple-time Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (a URJ summer camp) triathlon champion.

On November 17, 2008, Weber-Gale won a Golden Goggles award with Beijing relay teammates Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak.[15]

On July 19, 2009, Weber-Gale (along with Phelps, Jones and Lezak) received an ESPY Award for Best Moment for their 4×100m freestyle relay performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[16]

Best swimming times

Long Course Meters:

  • 50 freestyle: 21.47
  • 100 freestyle: 47.78 (First American to break 48 seconds)
  • 100 freestyle relay split: 47.02
  • 200 freestyle: 1:49.06
  • 100 backstroke: 56.48

Short Course Meters:

  • 50 freestyle: 21.31
  • 100 freestyle: 46.29

Short Course Yards:

  • 50 freestyle: 19.16
  • 100 freestyle: 41.94
  • 200 freestyle: 1:33.53
  • 100 backstroke: 47.33

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sports Shorts". Jewish Sports Review 8 (87): 18. September/October 2011, accessed September 16, 2011. 
  2. ^ "Auburn nabs fourth straight swimming and diving title". USA TODAY. March 26, 2006. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/other/2006-03-26-mens-swim-dive-title_x.htm. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 
  3. ^ "One world, three American records fall on seventh night of Trials". July 5, 2008. http://usaswimming.org/usasweb/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=81&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&ItemId=2108&mid=3832. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 
  4. ^ "2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Men's 100m Freestyle – Heats" (PDF). http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2008/Omaha_b_2008/C74A_ResSummary_14_Heats_Men_100_Free.pdf. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 
  5. ^ Charles Robinson (August 11, 2008). "Lezak lifts U.S. in ‘best ever’ relay". Yahoo!. http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/swimming/news?slug=cr-swimbestever081108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 
  6. ^ Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay – Final
  7. ^ Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay – Heat 2
  8. ^ By · August 11, 2008 (August 11, 2008). "Jewish swimmers pace U.S. to relay gold". JTA. http://jta.org/news/article/2008/08/11/109873/LezakWeberGale. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 
  9. ^ Men's 50m Freestyle semifinals
  10. ^ Men's 100m freestyle semifinals
  11. ^ Beth Harris (July 11, 2009). "Jones sets American record in 50 free". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZ9LUUkRws4ffM3_y9B0TGO8jYSQD99CHVJ01. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 
  12. ^ "USA wins 400 free relay at World Championships". July 26, 2009. http://www.news8austin.com/content/sports/?ArID=247747&SecID=5. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 
  13. ^ "NISCA Boys Public High School 25-yard (23 m) National Records". Section9swim.com. http://www.section9swim.com/Records/BoysHS/NISCA.htm. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 
  14. ^ "WIAA Division I Boys Records". Wisca.net. http://www.wisca.net/records.php. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Phelps and Coughlin Win Top Honors at Golden Goggles". November 17, 2008. http://www.usaswimming.org/usasweb/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=865&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&ItemId=2274&mid=2430. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 
  16. ^ "Lakers, LeBron among ESPY winners". ESPN. July 16, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4330711. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 

External links

Men's Team
Women's Team
Coaches

Jack Bauerle (Women's Head Coach) • Ray Benecki • Bob Bowman • Frank Busch • Sean Hutchison • Teri McKeever • Eddie Reese (Men's Head Coach) • Mark Schubert (National Team Head Coach) • Gregg Troy • Jon Urbanchek • Paul Yetter