Nicholas Sprenger (born 14 May 1985) is an Australian middle-distance freestyle

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 won a silver medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Coming from

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Sprenger who is coached by Michael Bohl spent the beginning of his career as the understudy of fellow Australians

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along with ...

and

Grant Hackett Grant George Hackett OAM (born 9 May 1980) is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to ...

. After finishing third in the 200-metre freestyle at the 2003 Australian Championships, Sprenger was selected to make his debut at the age of 18 at the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, where he was a part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team which won gold ahead of the United States team. The following year, he was again third behind Thorpe and Hackett, and was a part of the team alongside Thorpe, Hackett and

Michael Klim Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

which was defeated by the Americans in Athens in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, ending Australia's six-year reign in the event. In 2005, with Thorpe taking a year off, Sprenger assumed the number 2 middle-distance swimmer role behind Hackett. Despite being involved in a mild car accident in late May, and being prevented from performing the complete training repertoire until one week before the event, Sprenger went on to set gallant personal bests in both the 200-metre and 400-metre events at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal, Canada, in July, placing fifth in the 200-metre event in a time of 1 minute 47.09 seconds. He also collected a bronze medal as part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. In 2006, with Australian captain Hackett sidelined with by a shoulder operation, Sprenger appeared likely to have another opportunity to establish himself as a world-class swimmer. However, he was plagued by a virus and was unable to compete. His cousin

Christian Sprenger Christian David Sprenger (born 19 December 1985) is an Australian former breaststroke swimmer. He trains at the Commercial Swimming Club under Simon Cusack. Swimming career At the 2008 Australian Swimming Championships he qualified in the 10 ...

is a breaststroker who broke the world record in the men's 200-metre breaststroke at the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

in Rome. At the trials for the 2008 Summer Olympics Sprenger came third in the 200-metre freestyle only 0.07 of a second behind Kenrick Monk. However, the winner

was not seeking an individual berth in the event, so Sprenger will compete as Australia's second qualifier in the event at Beijing. He is also a member of the Australian 4×200-metre freestyle team, trying to beat the Americans. However, at the Olympics, Sprenger was eliminated in the semifinals and was then dropped from the relay team, competing in neither the heats nor finals. His colleagues captured the bronze medal in his absence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprenger, Nicholas 1985 births Living people Swimmers from Brisbane Australian people of German descent Olympic swimmers of Australia Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Australian male freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming

See also

References