Michael Klim

Michael Klim
Personal information
Full name Michael Klim
Nationality  Australia
Born 13 August 1977 (1977-08-13) (age 34)
Gdynia, Poland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Sport
Sport Swimming
College team Wesley College, Melbourne

Michael Klim OAM (born 13 August 1977) is a Polish-born Australian swimmer. He was born in Gdynia. He was educated at the University High School, Melbourne and Wesley College, Melbourne where he is currently employed as the College's elite Head Coach of swimming. During the mid 1990s to early 2000s (decade), he appeared in advertisements for Nintendo Australia, particularly for the Nintendo 64.

Contents

Personal life

Klim married Lindy Rama, a former model and fashion entrepreneur, in April 2006. Rama (known in Bali as Anak Agung] is a Balinese princess, being the niece of Ida Cokorde Pamecutan XI, the king of Denpasar.[5] The couple have two daughters, Stella (born January 2006) and Frankie (born June 2011)[6] and a son, Rocco (born May 2008).[7]

Career

Klim was first selected to represent Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada in 1994, while still a student at Wesley College, Melbourne. For his achievements he was named the Male Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine in 1997. In 1999, he set a world record in the 100 m butterfly twice, in a FINA sanctioned time trial (51.81 s). It was broken at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona by the Ukrainian Andriy Serdinov in the first semifinal of the 100 m butterfly, and then broken another time in the next semifinal by Michael Phelps. Phelps's record was bested by Ian Crocker in the final the following day.

Medal Achievements

In 1996, he arrived at the Atlanta Olympics ranked first in the world for the 200 m freestyle, but was surprisingly eliminated in the heats. He rebounded to qualify for a finals in the 100m butterfly, and swam the freestyle leg in the 4×100 m medley relay, in which Australia claimed a bronze medal.

1998 was Michael Klim's year in the sun. In January, the World Aquatics were held in Perth, and in front of a boisterous home crowd, he was the leading swimmer of the meet. He triumphed in the 200 m freestyle and the 100 m butterfly, and added silver in the 100 m freestyle, and bronze in the 50 m freestyle. He was a member of each of Australia's three relay teams, winning gold in the 4×200 m freestyle relay and 4×100 m medley relay, and a silver in the 4×100 m freestyle relay.

In 2000, at the Sydney Olympics, Klim set a world record (48.18) leading off the 4×100 m freestyle relay, which paved the way for a world record (3:13.67). Three days later, he was part of the 4×200 m freestyle relay, which set another world record (7:07.05), which left the opposition over 5 seconds in arrears on its way to victory. His 100m freestyle world record bested by Pieter van den Hoogenband in the semi's, in the final he finished with a bitter 4th place, he turned first at the wall but he claimed his legs gave away in the second half. In the 100 m butterfly, he was the world record holder, again turning first at the wall heavily under world record pace, but was cut down in the closing stages by Sweden's Lars Frölander, finishing second. On the final night he claimed silver as part of the 4×100 m medley relay team.

In 2001, hampered by an ankle injury Klim was restricted to relay duties, and contributed to another world record, winning gold in the 4×200 m relay (7:04.66). He also collected a gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay.

2002–2007

In 2002 and 2003, due to chronic back and shoulder problems, Michael Klim was inactive throughout these years

After just months of getting back into swimming, Klim failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, however he was allowed to do a swim off and get into the relays, Australia was never in medal territory in the 4×100m, and was dethroned by team USA in the 4×200m, clinching a close silver medal performance, the medley relay failed to qualify for the final.

In 2005, he swam at the World Aquatics in Montreal, returning to individual action, but failed to progress to the finals in the 50m & 100m Freestyle. He won bronze as part of the 4×100 m freestyle relay.

In 2007, he swam as part of the B team in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, in the final the Australian team won the gold medal.

Retirement

On the 26 June 2007 Klim retired as a world champion. He finished the year ranked 94 in the 100 freestyle with the Olympics 14 months away, however, in February 2011 Klim announced a comeback to competitive swimming with a view to seeking selection for the 2012 London Olympics.

Return to Competitive Swimming

On the 14 February 2011 Klim announced his return to competitive swimming, hoping to compete in the London 2012 Olympics.[8]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ "ESPN Sydney Swimming". http://static.espn.go.com/oly/summer00/swimming/index.html. Retrieved 13 March 2009. 
  2. ^ "2004 Olympic Games swimming results". CNN. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2004/schedules/117BySport.html. Retrieved 22 July 2007. 
  3. ^ "12th FINA World Championships". Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070606111744/http://www.fina.org/events/WC/Melbourne_2007/results/swimming.php. Retrieved 9 June 2007. 
  4. ^ "Montreal 2005 Results". Archived from the original on 28 January 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070128064425/http://www.fina.org/events/WC/Montreal_2005/results/sw.php. Retrieved 9 June 2007. 
  5. ^ Indonesia Pusaka, retrieved 14 September 2009
  6. ^ Klims welcome a new baby girl
  7. ^ "Klims welcome baby boy Rocco". Herald Sun. 15 May 2008. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23701317-5012974,00.html. 
  8. ^ Klim to return to competitive swimming with no expectations


Records
Preceded by
Alexander Popov		 Men's 100 metre freestyle
world record holder (long course)
16 September 2000–19 September 2000		 Succeeded by
Pieter van den Hoogenband
Preceded by
Denis Pankratov		 Men's 100 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)
9 October 1997 – 25 July 2003		 Succeeded by
Andriy Serdinov
Preceded by
Denis Pankratov		 Men's 100 metre butterfly
world record holder (short course)
22 January 1998 – 14 December 1998		 Succeeded by
James Hickman
Preceded by
James Hickman		 Men's 100 metre butterfly
world record holder (short course)
2 September 1999 – 16 March 2000		 Succeeded by
Lars Frölander
Awards
Preceded by
Denis Pankratov		 World Swimmer of the Year
1997		 Succeeded by
Ian Thorpe
Preceded by
Danyon Loader		 World Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year
1996		 Succeeded by
Ian Thorpe