Dominik Meichtry (born November 18, 1984) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

competitive

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 ...

specializing in the middle distance freestyle events. He currently holds six Swiss national records (long course and short course). Meichtry has won 31 individual Swiss national medals, 25 gold, 6 silver. He has been competing on the international stage since the 2002 European Championships in Berlin. He was voted as Switzerland's top 10 male Athletes in 2008 and won athlete of the year in his canton of St. Gallen.

College

Meichtry committed to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in the spring of 2004 and started school in January 2005. He was a multiple All-American for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

swimming and diving team, and placed 2nd at the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAAs) competition. He was voted team captain of the CAL men's swim team his junior and senior year guiding the bears to a 4th-place finish at the 2008 NCAAs. Meichtry graduated in spring 2009 with a degree in psychology and sociology. Meichtry trained at

The Race Club The Race Club is a swimming club known for training Olympic Games swimmers with its swimming training program that is focused on specific swimming techniques, located in Islamorada, Florida. History The Race Club was founded in 2003 by Gary ...

, a summer swimming camp founded by Olympic Swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and his father, Gary Hall, Sr. The Race Club, originally known as "The World Team", was designed to serve as a training group for elite swimmers across the world in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. To be able to train with the Race Club, one must either have been ranked in the top 20 in the world the past 3 calendar years or top 3 in their nation in the past year. The Race Club included such well known swimmers as

Roland Mark Schoeman Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 4 July 1980) is a South African and American former swimmer was a world record holder in multiple events, and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. He ...

, Mark Foster,

Ryk Neethling Ryk Neethling OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as a three-time World Aquatic Champion and four-time World Record breaking Olympic swimming champion, participating in four Olympics for South Af ...

, and

Therese Alshammar Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Sweden, Swedish Swimming (sport), swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in fre ...

2008

Meichtry broke out on the international stage at the

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

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, where he swam the 8th fastest time ever recorded in the 200m Freestyle event. In the process, he beat the likes of Michael Phelps—who may not have been swimming his fastest in a quarter finals—to become the first Swiss swimmer to be the top seed going into semi finals. In the 200m Freestyle final he finished sixth in the event (Phelps won the event, finishing more than 2-1/2 seconds ahead of Meichtry). Meichtry also became the first Swiss to break the 49 second barrier when he led off the 4x100 Freestyle relay in 48.96. Later in the competition he lowered his own record to 48.55 in the 100 Freestyle event. In December 2008 Meichtry won his first international medal at the

2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 took place in Rijeka, Croatia from 11 to 14 December 2008. Medal table Medal summary Legend: * WR = World record * ER = European record * CR = Championships record Men's events Women's ...

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, Croatia. He won the silver medal in the 200m Freestyle and missed out on the European crown by 0.02s.

2009 – present

Meichtry moved his training base to Southern California in fall of 2009 to train with

Dave Salo David Clark Salo is a swimming coach based in Southern California, United States. He was the head coach of the men's and women's swimming team at University of Southern California, as well as USC's club team, Trojan Swim Club. Prior to his becoming ...

for Trojan Swim Club out of the University of Southern California. Under the guidance of

, Meichtry qualified for his 3rd Olympic Games 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 ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China. There he placed 7th in the 200m Freestyle in a time of 1:47.02 and swam a new national record in the 100m Butterfly event.

Personal bests

Long Course (50m)

Short Course (25m)

Personal life

Meichtry married American Olympic swimmer

Jessica Hardy Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry (born March 12, 1987) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley r ...

on October 5, 2013.

References

External links

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Dominik Meichtry Photo Gallery @ MAGICPBK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meichtry, Dominik 1984 births Living people California Golden Bears men's swimmers Swiss expatriate swimmers in the United States Swiss male butterfly swimmers Swiss male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Switzerland Sportspeople from St. Gallen (city) 21st-century Swiss sportsmen