Matthew J. Cetlinski (born October 4, 1964) is an American former 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 ...

, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. Cetlinski was born in

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

. He attended Cardinal Newman High School in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populatio ...

. As a junior swimmer, he trained with the Wellington Wahoos Swim Club in nearby

Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village just west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. As of 2019, the city had a population of 65,398 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making it the most populous village in the state. It is t ...

. Cetlinski accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach

Randy Reese Randy Reese (born 1946) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida to four national championships, and coaching the winners of ...

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) competition from 1983 to 1986.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2014–15 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 76, 78, 79, 83, 87, 90, 94, 96, 97, 100 (2014). Retrieved March 3, 2015. He was a member of the Gators' 1983 and 1984 NCAA men's championship teams, as well as four consecutive SEC championships teams. As Gator swimmer, he won the NCAA championship in the 500-yard freestyle event in 1986 and received eight All-American honors over the course of his collegiate career. Cetlinski graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in religion in 1987, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1997. Cetlinski won a gold medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, South Korea, where he was a member of the first-place U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with teammates

Troy Dalbey Troy Lane Dalbey (born September 19, 1968) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Dalbey attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach Randy Ree ...

, Doug Gjertsen and Matt Biondi who swam in the final, as well as Craig Oppel and Dan Jorgensen who swam in the qualifying heats of the event. The Americans set a new world record of 7:12.51 in the event final. Individually, Cetlinski also placed fourth in the men's 400-meter freestyle (3:48.09) and the men's 1,500-meter freestyle (15:06.42). Cetlinski now works as an

acupuncturist Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...

in Gainesville, Florida.Sharon Robb,
Swimming & Diving: Bolles continues state domination
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', p. 13C (November 5, 2006). Retrieved March 3, 2015.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cetlinski, Matt 1964 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers Florida Gators men's swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Lake Worth Beach, Florida Swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people) Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games

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