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
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for  Australia Olympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney[1] 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2000 Sydney 4×200 m freestyle Silver 2000 Sydney 100 m butterfly Silver 2000 Sydney 4×100 m medley Silver 2004 Athens[2] 4×200 m freestyle Bronze 1996 Atlanta 4×100 m medley World Championships (LC) Gold 1998 Perth 100 m butterfly Gold 1998 Perth 200 m freestyle Gold 1998 Perth 4×200 m freestyle Gold 1998 Perth 4×100 m medley Gold 2001 Fukuoka 4×100 m freestyle Gold 2001 Fukuoka 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2007 Melbourne[3] 4×100 m medley Silver 1998 Perth 100 m freestyle Silver 1998 Perth 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 1998 Perth 50 m freestyle Bronze 2005 Montreal[4] 4×100 m freestyle Goodwill Games Gold 2001 Brisbane 100 m freestyle Gold 2001 Brisbane 100 m butterfly Gold 2001 Brisbane 4×100 m freestyle Silver 2001 Brisbane 50 m Butterfly World Championships (SC) Gold 1995 Rio de Janeiro 4×200 m freestyle Silver 1995 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m freestyle Silver 1995 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m medley Bronze 1995 Rio de Janeiro 200m Freestyle Gold 1997 Gothenburg 4×100 m medley Gold 1997 Gothenburg 4×200 m freestyle Bronze 1997 Gothenburg 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 1997 Gothenburg 100 m butterfly Bronze 1997 Gothenburg 100 m freestyle Gold 1999 Hong Kong 4×100 m freestyle Gold 1999 Hong Kong 4×100 m medley Silver 1999 Hong Kong 100 m freestyle Silver 1999 Hong Kong 200 m freestyle Silver 1999 Hong Kong 100 m butterfly Commonwealth Games Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100m Freestyle Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x200 m freestyle Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100 m medley Silver 1998 Kuala Lumpur 200 m freestyle Bronze 1998 Kuala Lumpur 50 m freestyle Bronze 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100 m butterfly Gold 2006 Melbourne 4x100 m medley Silver 2006 Melbourne 4x100 m freestyle Silver 2006 Melbourne 100 m butterfly Bronze 2006 Melbourne 50 m butterfly Pan Pacific Championships Gold 1997 Fukuoka 100 m freestyle Gold 1997 Fukuoka 200 m freestyle Gold 1999 Sydney 100 m freestyle Gold 1999 Sydney 100 m butterfly Gold 1999 Sydney 4×100 m freestyle Gold 1999 Sydney 4×200 m freestyle Silver 1997 Fukuoka 100 m butterfly Silver 1997 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley Silver 1997 Fukuoka 4×100 m freestyle Silver 1997 Fukuoka 4×200 m freestyle Silver 1999 Sydney 200 m freestyle

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 90s to early 2000s, he appeared in advertisements for Nintendo Australia, particularly for the Nintendo 64.

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.

• Atlanta Olympics (USA) :
  • Men's 4x100m Medley Relay.

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.

• FINA World Championships 1998 in Perth (Australia) :
  • 200m Freestyle.
  • 100m Freestyle.
  • 50m Freestyle.
  • 100m Butterfly.
  • 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
  • 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
  • 4x100m Medley 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.

• Sydney Olympics (Australia) :
  • 100m Butterfly.
  • 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
  • 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
  • 4x100m Medley Relay.

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.

• FINA World Championships 2001 in Fukuoka (Japan) :
  • 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
  • 4x200m 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 4x100m, and was dethroned by team USA in the 4x200, clinching a close silver medal performance, the medley relay failed to qualify for the final.

• Athens Olympics (Greece) :
  • 4x200m Freestyle Relay.

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.

• FINA World Championships 2005 in Montreal (Canada) :
  • 4x100m Freestyle Relay.

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

• FINA World Championships 2007 in Melbourne (Australia) :
  • 4x100m Medley Relay.

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

• World record progression 100 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres butterfly

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

Persondata
Name	Klim, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 August 1977
Place of birth	Gdynia, Poland
Date of death
Place of death