David Edward Plummer (born October 9, 1985) is a retired 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 ...

who specialized in

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), 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 disa ...

events. He won bronze and gold medals at the

2016 Summer 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 ...

Swimming career

At the

2010 FINA Short Course World Championships The 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 15–19 December 2010. This swimming-only championships took place in the Dubai Sports Complex; all events were swum in a 25-meter ( short-course) ...

in Dubai, Plummer won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay for his contributions in the heats. Plummer also competed in the 50- and 100-meter backstroke in Dubai but finished out of medal contention in both events. 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, Plummer placed fifth in the final of the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 53.04. In the 50-meter backstroke final, Plummer placed fifth with a time of 24.92. On the last day of competition, Plummer won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay for his contributions in the heats. At the 2013 U.S. National Championships, Plummer qualified to swim in two individual events at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships. At the National Championships, he finished first in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 53.10, upsetting the Olympic gold medalist

Matt Grevers Matthew Grevers (born March 26, 1985) is a former American competition swimmer who competed in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competiti ...

. Plummer also finished first in the 50-meter backstroke, breaking the US Open record in the process with a time of 24.52. At the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.2016 Summer 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 ...

, Plummer won the bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke final in a time of 52.40 seconds. Additionally, Plummer won a gold medal as a member of the 4x100-meter medley relay. In January 2017, Plummer officially retired from competitive swimming.

Personal life

Plummer was born in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

, to Don and Kathy Plummer. He has three brothers: Roy, Ryan, and Nate, all of whom are former swimmers. Plummer graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 2008. In 2012, he married Dr. Erin Forster; they have two sons, Will and Ricky."David Plummer"
usaswimming.org. Retrieved August 10, 2016. Plummer worked as head coach for the Wayzata boys swim and dive team. During his first year as acting coach, Plummer led the team to its first-ever state title on the way to winning Minnesota state coach of the year. In his second year as coach, the Trojans finished the season with a 1–5 record, but finished the season with a victory at sections and a top-10 finish at the state meet. After winning sections for a third straight year with the Wayzata Trojans, Plummer accepted a position at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plummer, David 1985 births Living people American male backstroke swimmers Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Norman, Oklahoma Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen