Benjamin Marshall Wildman-Tobriner (born September 21, 1984) is an American physician and former competition swimmer, Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

ist, and former world record-holder.

Early life

Wildman-Tobriner was born in San Francisco to Michael Tobriner and Stephanie Wildman, and is Jewish. He grew up in San Francisco with his parents and older sister, Rebecca. He attended

Lick-Wilmerding High School Lick-Wilmerding High School is a private college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California, United States. History Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874, as the California School of Mechanical Arts, a ...

of San Francisco. Wildman-Tobriner's paternal grandfather,

Mathew Tobriner Mathew Oscar Tobriner (April 2, 1904 – April 7, 1982) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1962 to 1982. Early life and education A native of San Francisco, Tobriner ...

, served as a

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

for 20 years.

Swimming career

Wildman-Tobriner began his career swimming for a local recreational team called Swimarin in the Marin Swim League until the age of 12. Even at that age, he managed to set several team, pool, and league records and become recognized for his talents. Around the age of 12, he joined the Fog City Hammerheads Swim Team under the instruction of the notable coach, Matthew "Berto" Roberto. He attended

, where he was a four-year varsity swimmer, and three-time MVP. While in high school he received numerous

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n awards for swimming excellence, and set the California North Coast Sectional record in the freestyle and achieving the second-fastest time for a 17- to 18-year-old male in the 50-meter freestyle in the United States. After graduating Lick-Wilmerding, Wildman-Tobriner attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

where, as well as swimming all four years, he graduated in 2007 as a Biomechanical Engineer. Wildman-Tobriner is most famous for his achievements in the 50-meter freestyle. In the spring of 2007, he competed in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

where he won the 50-meter freestyle in a time of 21.88 seconds. He had the former American record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 18.87 seconds. He currently has 1 NCAA gold medal for the 400 Medley Relay (2005) as well as more than a dozen All-Americans and

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

championships. In December 2007, Wildman-Tobriner injured his left

pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectora ...

tendon, completely separating it from the

humerus The humerus (; : humeri) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius (bone), radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extrem ...

bone. After surgery, he resumed training, at first swimming using only his right arm, with his left arm in a sling. By May 2008, he had recovered enough to compete again, finishing fourth in a race in Santa Clara. On July 3, 2008, Wildman-Tobriner qualified for the Olympic relay team as the second alternate in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. In Beijing, during the evening preliminary heats on August 10, he became a member of the World Record 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (3:12.23) by swimming the third leg in a time of 48.03. The next day, Wildman-Tobriner earned a gold medal (but lost the world record) when

Jason Lezak Jason Edward Lezak (born November 12, 1975) is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spanning ...

swam down

Alain Bernard Alain Bernard (; born 1 May 1983) is a former French swimmer from Aubagne, Bouches-du-Rhône. Bernard won a total of four medals (two golds, one silver, and one bronze) at two Olympic Games (2008 and 2012). He also won numerous medals at the W ...

in the final leg of the relay's final in world record time.

Post-swimming career

After the Olympics, he went on to medical school at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

. Since 2018, he has been an assistant professor of radiology at the

Duke University School of Medicine The Duke University School of Medicine, commonly known as Duke Med, is the medical school of Duke University. It was established in 1925 by James B. Duke. The School of Medicine, along with the Duke University School of Nursing, Duke Universi ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wildman-Tobriner, Ben 1984 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers American radiologists Duke University School of Medicine faculty Jewish American swimmers Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers from San Francisco Stanford Cardinal men's swimmers Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming 21st-century American Jews Lick-Wilmerding High School alumni Jews from California 21st-century American sportsmen

Early life

Swimming career

Post-swimming career

See also

References

External links