Nicholas Folker (born October 26, 1976) is a South African former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He captured two medals at the

1999 All-Africa Games The 7th All-Africa Games (; ), also known as Johannesburg 1999 (), was a sport event held from 10 to 19 September 1999, in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. 53 countries participated in eighteen sports. Netball was included as a demonstrati ...

, and later represented

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Folker was schooled in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. His primary years were spent at Cowan House Preparatory School, after which he attended

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal, Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Spear’s Schools Index 2025 reco ...

. In recognition of his achievements and dedication to swimming,

renamed one of its swimming pools the Folker Pool. While moving on to reside in the United States, Folker achieved school records in a sprint freestyle double and also trained for the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

's swimming and diving team, also known as the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes at ...

, under the tutelage of head coach Sam Freas. Folker made his own swimming history at the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma, Majorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain from 3 July to 13 July. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football (finals), ceremonies * Palau Municipal d'Espor ...

Palma de Mallorca, Spain Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

, where he earned a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle at 50.77, finishing behind Russia's

Denis Pimankov Denis Sergeyevich Pimankov (; born 4 February 1975 in Omsk) is a freestyle swimmer from Russia, who won several medals as a member of the freestyle relay team (4×100 m and 4×200 m) during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He competed i ...

and Italy's Mauro Gallo. When his nation South Africa hosted the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

on that year, Folker added two more medals to his career hardware in front of a massive home crowd: a silver in the 50 m freestyle (22.83) and another bronze in the 100 m freestyle (50.61). At the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Folker competed in two swimming events with only six days in between. First, he teamed up with

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 ...

, Brendon Dedekind, and deaf-mute

Terence Parkin Terence Mike Parkin (born 12 April 1980 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) is a swimmer from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 200m Breaststroke. Parkin, who was born deaf, also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, ...

in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the third leg in heat two, Folker overhauled a 50-second barrier and recorded a split of 49.57, but the South Africans missed the top 8 final by 1.09 seconds, finishing in fifth place and eleventh overall with an African standard of 3:21.28. Because of his powerful effort in the freestyle relay, Folker was selected to join with Simon Thirsk, Brett Petersen, and Theo Verster in the 4 × 100 m medley relay six days later. During the prelims race, he swam a freestyle leg in the same heat with a scintillating anchor of 49.53 to deliver a fourth-place finish and thirteenth overall for the South Africans in 3:42.44. The following year, at the

2001 Goodwill Games The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sporti ...

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Folker, along with his teammate Schoeman and Latin American sprinters

José Meolans José Martin Meolans (born June 22, 1978 in Cordoba, Argentina, Córdoba) is a Freestyle swimming, freestyle swimmer from Argentina, who won the world title in the 50 metre freestyle at the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships in Moscow, Mo ...

(Argentina) and

Fernando Scherer Fernando de Queiroz Scherer (born October 6, 1974) is a Brazilian former international swimmer. He won the bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and another bronze medal four years later in Sydney with t ...

(Brazil), captured a silver medal for the all-stars team in the freestyle relay (3:18.78). Since his sporting career ended in 2004, Folker worked as a strength and conditioning coach 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 ...

men's swimming and diving team at 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 ...

. He was hired to be an assistant coach at his alma mater, the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes a ...

swimming and diving teams in September 2019. Currently, Folker works as a coach at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami, Florida.

References

External links

* * * * *
Hawaii bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folker, Nicholas 1976 births Living people Olympic swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics South African male freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Pietermaritzburg Swimmers from KwaZulu-Natal Hawaii Rainbow Warriors swimmers South African expatriate swimmers in the United States Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine swimming coaches College swimming coaches in the United States African Games silver medalists for South Africa Summer World University Games medalists in swimming Goodwill Games medalists in swimming African Games bronze medalists for South Africa Swimmers at the 1999 All-Africa Games FISU World University Games bronze medalists for South Africa Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Alumni of Michaelhouse 20th-century South African people 21st-century South African people African Games bronze medalists in swimming African Games silver medalists in swimming