Conor James Dwyer (born January 10, 1989) is a former American competition

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 ...

and Olympic gold medalist. He competed in freestyle and

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

events, and won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In total, he has won seventeen medals in major international competitions: nine gold, six silver, and two bronze spanning the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, the

FINA World Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: Swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water ...

, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. Dwyer placed second at the 2016 US Olympic Swimming Trials in the 400m freestyle. On 11 October 2019 it was announced by the

United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

that Dwyer had failed a series of anti-doping tests in late 2018. It had been found that he had banned anabolic steroids, namely testosterone in the form of pellets, surgically inserted into his body. Dwyer was banned for 20 months and was expected to miss the 2020 Summer Olympics before the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He announced his retirement from competitive swimming shortly after the suspension was announced.

Early years

Dwyer was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, the son of Patrick and Jeanne Dwyer.GatorZone.com, Men's Swimming & Diving, 2010–11 Roster
Conor Dwyer
. Retrieved July 9, 2012. His mother was an All-American swimmer for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

swimming team and continues to teach swimming lessons to this day.USA Swimming, National Team Bios
Conor Dwyer
. Retrieved July 9, 2012. Dwyer is the second oldest of five children in his family, including PJ, Pati, Brendan, and his twin brother Spencer. Spencer is a personal trainer who has trained the likes of Chance the Rapper. He grew up in

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,475 as of the 2020 census. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the United States in terms of household income. It was ...

, and attended Loyola Academy, a Catholic high school in

Wilmette, Illinois Wilmette is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Skokie, Northfield, Glenview, and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a populatio ...

, where he swam for the Loyola Academy Ramblers high school swim team for four years. As a senior team captain, he was the league champion in the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.03) and runner-up in 500-yard freestyle (4:45.15), received all-section and all-league honors, and was his team's most valuable swimmer. In addition to swimming, he played baseball, lacrosse and water polo. In water polo, he earned third-team all-state and first-team all-section, all-region and all-league honors. He graduated from Loyola in 2007.

Swimming career

Collegiate

Dwyer first attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

and swam for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

swimming and diving team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) and

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

competition during the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons. After his second year, he transferred to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he swam for coach Gregg Troy's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in NCAA and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) competition during the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2011–12 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 59, 61, 63, 67, 69, 72, 74, 77, 78, 80 (2011). Retrieved July 9, 2012. In 2010, he won individual titles at the NCAA national championships in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle, and was honored as the NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Dwyer was named SEC Swimmer of the Year in both 2010 and 2011. Dwyer finished his college career with twelve All-American honors and three NCAA titles (two individual and one relay). He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2011.

2010–11

At the 2010 ConocoPhillips United States National Championships in Irvine, California, Dwyer qualified for the U.S. national team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay by finishing fifth in the 200-meter freestyle. Dwyer also placed fifth in the 200-meter individual medley and sixth in the 400-meter freestyle. At the

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming ...

in Shanghai, China, Dwyer swam in the heats of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and earned a gold medal when the United States won in the final. Teaming with David Walters, Ricky Berens, and Peter Vanderkaay, Dwyers swam the second leg and recorded a time of 1:47.31. At the 2011 ConocoPhillips United States National Championships in Palo Alto, California, Dwyer won the 200-meter individual medley and placed second in the 400-meter individual medley. Shortly after the 2011 National Championships, Dwyer competed at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

held in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the competition, he won four medals (one gold, three silver) which included two individual silver medals.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the qualifying meet for the Olympics, Dwyer made the U.S. Olympic team for the first time by finishing second behind Peter Vanderkaay in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:47.83. During the last 100 meters of the 400-meter freestyle, he split a 56.81 seconds that helped him edge out Michael Klueh and Charlie Houchin for the second spot. Dwyer also qualified for the 4×200-meter freestyle relay by finishing fourth in the 200-meter freestyle behind

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

Ryan Lochte Ryan Steven Lochte ( ; born August 3, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. He is the third-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by total number of medals, behind only Michael Phelps and Kat ...

and Ricky Berens. Dwyer capped the trials with a third-place finish in the 200-meter individual medley finishing again behind Phelps and Lochte. During the 2012 Olympic Trials, Dwyer achieved personal bests in all of the events in which he competed. At the

in London, Dwyer swam his first race in the men's 400-meter freestyle. In the heats of the 400-meter freestyle, Dwyer achieved a personal best of 3:46.24 (with his prior being 3:47.83) to qualify for the final. In the final of the 400-meter freestyle, Dwyer placed fifth with a time of 3:46.39, slightly slower than the time he posted in the heats. In his second and last event, the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Dwyer earned a gold medal when the U.S. team placed first in the final with a time of 6:59.70. Teaming with

, Ricky Berens and

, Dwyer swam the second leg in a time of 1:45.23.

2013 World Championships

At the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.4×100-meter freestyle relay. Swimming the anchor leg in the heats, Dwyer recorded a time of 48.36. In his first individual event, the 200-meter freestyle, Dwyer won silver behind Frenchman Yannick Agnel, recording a personal best time of 1:45.32. At the 150-meter mark, Dwyer was in fifth place, but had a final 50 split of 26.59 to grab the second spot. His final 50 was the fastest among the field. In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Dwyer combined with

, Charlie Houchin, and Ricky Berens, with the team finishing in first place. Swimming the lead-off, Dwyer recorded a split of 1:45.76, and the team finished with a final time of 7:01.72.

2016 Olympics

At the Olympic trials Dwyer placed second in both the 200m and 400m freestyle, qualifying him for the Olympic team in both those individual events. At the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Dwyer started off the program coming 4th in the 400 freestyle missing out in a medal despite qualifying fastest from the heats. Dwyer was again part of the US 4 × 200 m freestyle team that won gold, leading off the relay in the final to teammates

Townley Haas Francis Townley Haas (born December 13, 1996) is a retired American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is an Olympic Games, Olympic gold medalist in the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 ...

and

. Dwyer also won a bronze medal in the 200 m freestyle individual event after a late surge, behind

Sun Yang Sun Yang (; ; born 1 December 1991) is a Chinese Swimming at the Summer Olympics, Olympic and former List of world records in swimming, world-record-holding competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. In 2012, Sun became the first Chinese athlete ...

and Chad le Clos.

2019 Swimming ban and retirement

In October 2019, Dwyer was handed a 20-month competitive ban after testing positive for an

anabolic agent Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The American Arbitration Association found that Dwyer consulted on health issues with his trainer Reardon and obstetrician-gynecologist Dana Russo, and the latter concluded his

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

levels were in the 5th percentile. Thereafter, Dwyer was using a

hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are hormonal therap ...

product BioTe, plant-derived testosterone, that were implanted as pellets beneath the skin in October 2018. Russo told the arbitration panel that she had asked someone on the

United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

if the treatment was allowed, but the person could not be identified. Months after commencing the hormone treatment in October 2018, Dwyer was informed that he had tested positive for an anabolic agent in 3 out-of-competition drug tests. He announced his retirement from swimming shortly after the 20-month suspension was announced by the USADA in October 2019, after the arbitration panel concluded the results.

Personal bests (long course)

Personal bests (short course)

Modeling career

In addition to swimming professionally, Dwyer is also an internationally signed model. In 2019, Dwyer was the face of

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

-based international clothing brand BENCH's men's wear campaign in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Conor 1989 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers American male medley swimmers Florida Gators men's swimmers Iowa Hawkeyes men's swimmers Loyola Academy alumni Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Winnetka, Illinois Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming 21st-century American sportsmen