Aschwin Wildeboer Faber (born 14 February 1986 in

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level. Sabadell pioneered the I ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

), known as Aschwin Wildeboer, is a Spanish Olympic

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

origin.

Biography

His parents, both born and raised in

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, moved to

in 1978 and settled in Sabadell, where his father Paulus Wildeboer became the head coach of the local swimming club, called ''Club Natació Sabadell''. He and his parents now live in Denmark, because his father is the Danish national team coach.

Career

Both Aschwin and his older brother,

Olaf Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" ...

, a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Lab ...

, represented Spain at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. At the 2004 Olympics, Aschwin was eliminated in the qualifying heats of the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

and 200 m backstroke. Since 2004, Aschwin has continued to swim internationally for Spain; however, Olaf began swimming for the

at the 2006 European Championships. Aschwin swam again for Spain in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, achieving a new Spanish record in the 100 m backstroke (53.51) and finishing seventh. On 21 December 2008, while swimming at the Spanish Short Course Championships, Wildeboer broke the men's 100-meter backstroke

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

with a time of 49.20 seconds—0.13 seconds faster than the previous world record set by

Stanislav Donets Stanislav Yuryevich Donets (russian: Станисла́в Ю́рьевич Доне́ц; born 7 July 1983) is a Russian swimmer from Dimitrovgrad. He was the world record holder for the 100m backstroke (Short Course). See also * World record ...

. On 1 July 2009, in the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The ...

held in Pescara (

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

), Wildeboer broke the men's 100 m backstroke long course

World Record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

with a time of 52.38—0.16 seconds faster than the previous world record set by

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two si ...

in the Beijing Olympics the previous year. Peirsol soon reclaimed the world record.

Notes

References

Spanish Olympic Committee

External links

* * * * * 1986 births Living people Spanish male backstroke swimmers Swimmers from Catalonia Spanish people of Dutch descent Olympic swimmers of Spain Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2009 Mediterranean Games {{spain-swimming-bio-stub