- Roland Mark Schoeman
Infobox Swimmer
swimmername=Roland Mark Schoeman
imagesize=
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fullname = Roland Mark Schoeman
nicknames =
nationality = RSA
strokes = freestyle, butterfly
club =Northern Tigers Swimming
collegeteam = Arizona Wildcats
birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1980|7|3
birthplace =Pretoria , South Africa
deathdate =
deathplace =
height =
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medaltemplates=Roland Mark Schoeman (born 3 July 1980) is a South African swimmer and a member of the
2004 Olympic Games swimming team for South Africa.He is the current World Record Holder in the 50 m Butterfly (Long Course - 22.96 sec.) and the 50 m Freestyle (Short Course - 20.64 sec.).
Career
Born in
Pretoria , Schoeman first ventured seriously into a pool when he was 16, in order to show a girl how interested he was in her. [cite web |url=http://sport.iafrica.com/beijing2008/features/1061300.htm |title=Roland Schoeman uncut |publisher=iafrica.com] Within a few months he was swimming competitively, beginning a career that would see him attain one gold medal, two silvers and a bronze at theCommonwealth Games and set new South African records in the 100 m Freestyle (48.69s), 50 m Freestyle (22.04s), 100 m Butterfly (52.73s) and 50 m Butterfly (23.65s) events.His latest achievements have been winning a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens in the 4 x 100 m freestyle, a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle event and a bronze in the 50 m freestyle. Three of the Men's 100 metre Freestyle team were in the team that broke the record and won gold at the2006 Commonwealth Games . He also claimed golds in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.Schoeman was voted Africa's Male Athlete of the year in 2004.
At the 2005 LC World Championships in
Montreal, Canada he won two gold medals [50 m Butterfly (in a world record time of 22.96s) and Freestyle (21.69s the second fastest time in history at the time)] . He also claimed a silver in 100m freestyle.In December 2005, Schoeman turned down a 40 Million Rand (US$5.9 million) contract to swim for Qatar [cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/features/schoeman-051205.htm |title=I am an African: Roland Schoeman |publisher=SouthAfrica Info] . He stated reasons of national pride for turning down the offer and that hearing the South African national anthem and sharing the joy of his victories with his fellow South Africans is what made winning gold special.
On 12 August 2006, Schoeman broke the short course world record for 50 metres freestyle and became the first man to swim the distance under 21 seconds, with a time of 20.98 seconds. Schoeman lowered the previous mark by 0.12 seconds held for the last two years by
Frédérick Bousquet of France. Schoeman was swimming in a specially built 25-metre pool at an invitational meeting in aHamburg tennis stadium.At the 2007 LC World Championships in Melbourne Australia he successfully defended his 50m butterfly title. He also made the final of the 50m and 100m freestyle and was part of the 4*100m freestyle relay team that finished 4th. On September 6, 2008 Roland Schoeman set a new short course meters world record of 20.64 at South African Nationals.
World records (current and former)
Long course (50 m pool)
hort course (25 m pool)
References and notes
ee also
*
Commonwealth Games records in swimming External links
* [http://www.rolandschoeman.com/ Roland Schoeman's website]
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