Roland Schoeman

Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 3 July 1980) is a South African swimmer and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Roland Schoeman

Personal information
Full name	Roland Mark Schoeman
Nationality	South Africa
Born	3 July 1980 Pretoria, South Africa
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb; 13.2 st)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, butterfly
Club	Phoenix Swim Club (USA)
Coach	Jonty Skinner
Medal record Men's swimming Representing  South Africa Olympic Games 2004 Athens 4×100 m freestyle 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle 2004 Athens 50 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 2005 Montreal 50 m freestyle 2005 Montreal 50 m butterfly 2007 Melbourne 50 m butterfly 2005 Montreal 100 m freestyle 2001 Fukuoka 50 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships 2006 Victoria 50 m freestyle 2006 Victoria 100 m freestyle 2010 Irvine 50 m butterfly 2010 Irvine 4×100 m freestyle Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester 50 m freestyle 2006 Melbourne 50 m freestyle 2006 Melbourne 50 m butterfly 2006 Melbourne 4×100 m freestyle 2002 Manchester 50 m butterfly 2002 Manchester 4×100 m freestyle 2010 Delhi 50 m freestyle 2014 Glasgow 50 m butterfly 2014 Glasgow 4×100 m freestyle 2006 Melbourne 100 m freestyle 2010 Delhi 50 m butterfly 2010 Delhi 4×100 m freestyle

Career

Born in Pretoria, Schoeman first took an interest in the sport when he was 13, and began to compete three years later.[1] He said he began swimming only to impress a girl he met.[2] This marked the beginning of a career that would see him attain a gold, silver and bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games; three gold, a silver and a bronze World Championship medals, as well as four gold, three silvers and three bronzes at the Commonwealth Games. He set new South African records in the 100 m Freestyle (48.69 s), 50 m Freestyle (22.04 s), 100 m Butterfly (52.73 s) and 50 m Butterfly (23.65 s) events.

He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the 4 × 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 the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He also claimed golds in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.

Schoeman, who is asthmatic, was voted the African Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World in 2004, 2005 and 2006; and the South African Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. He was elected South African Sports Star of the Year in 2004.[3]

In 2007, he received the South African Presidential Award Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, awarded for excellent achievements in the field of swimming.[4]

At the 2005 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada he won two gold medals [50 m Butterfly (in a world record time of 22.96 s) and Freestyle (21.69 s, the second fastest time in history at the time)]. He also claimed a silver in 100 m freestyle.

In December 2005, Schoeman turned down a 40 Million Rand (US$5.9 million) contract to swim for Qatar.[5] 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.

At the 2007 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne Australia he successfully defended his 50m butterfly title. He also made the final of the 50 m and 100 m freestyle and was part of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team that finished fourth.

On 6 September 2008 Roland Schoeman set a new short course meters (25 m pool) world record of 20.64 at South African Nationals. Schoeman lost his world record in late 2008 but regained his record in August 2009. At the South Africa Short Course Championships, Schoeman swam 20.30 seconds. This time was broken in 2014 by Florent Manaudou.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Schoeman, aged 32, advanced to the final in the men's 50 m freestyle, clocking a 21.80 to finish 0.46 seconds behind the gold medal winner, Florent Manaudou.

In 2016, Schoeman missed qualification for a fifth Olympics.[6]

Career best times

Schoeman has broken three long course world records (two individual, one relay) and six short course world records (all individual).

Event	Time	Record	Date	Location
Long course
50m Freestyle	21.67	SA Record Holder	16 Aug 2008	Beijing, China
50m Freestyle	21.67 =	SA Record Holder	02 Aug 2013	Barcelona, Spain
100m Freestyle	48.17	Former SA Record Holder	15 Aug 2004	Athens, Greece
50m Butterfly	22.90	Former WR Holder	26 Jul 2009	Rome, Italy
4 × 100 m Freestyle	3:11.93	Former WR Holder	26 Jul 2009	Rome, Italy
Short course
50m Freestyle	20.30	Former WR Holder	8 August 2009	Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
100m Freestyle	46.25	Former WR Holder	22 January 2005	Berlin, Germany
50m Butterfly	21.87		14 Nov 2009	Berlin, Germany
100m IM	52.20	Former WR Holder	13 Aug 2006	Hamburg, Germany

Accolades

In 2004 he was inducted into the University of Pretoria Sport Hall of fame.[7]

See also

• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• World record progression 50 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle
• World record progression 50 metres butterfly
• World record progression 100 metres individual medley

References

1. "roland2012.com".
2. "Roland Schoeman uncut". iafrica.com.
3. "roland2012.com".
4. "Team SA profile: Roland Schoeman". SouthAfrica.info. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012.
5. "I am an African: Roland Schoeman". SouthAfrica.info. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008.
6. Race, Loretta (21 April 2016). "Schoeman Falls Short Of 5th Olympic Games, Yet Marches On". Swimswam. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Hall of fame Retrieved 25 June 2011

External links

• Official website