Per ("Pelle") Anders Gustaf Holmertz (born 3 February 1960 in

Motala Motala () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Motala Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with a municipal population of 43,717 inhabitants in 2024. It is the third largest city of Östergötland, following Linköping and N ...

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

) is a former

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' 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 ...

from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and a 1980 Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter freestyle.

U Cal Berkeley swimming

At the University of California Berkeley, Holmertz was coached by Hall of Fame Coach

Nort Thornton Norton Thornton Jr. (1933 – April 21, 2021) was the head coach of the California Golden Bears men's swimming and diving team at the University of California, Berkeley from 1974 through 2007, where he led the team to NCAA national championships ...

. At Cal, Holmertz won All-American honors four times. Swimming during an exceptional period in the team's history, Holmertz was highly instrumental in leading Cal to its first NCAA team championship in 1979, then contributed to another NCAA national title in the 1980 season. He swam on two NCAA teams that set relay records. His first NCAA win was with the 400 medley relay team in 1979 that set a combined time of 3:15:22. In 1982, he swam on the 800 free relay that set a record time of 6:28:94. In the same year he captured the 200 freestyle title at the NCAA Championships and won 100 freestyle title at the Pac-10 Conference championships. Pelle is not related to accomplished swimmer

Anders Holmertz Anders Holmertz (born 1 December 1968) is a Swedish retired swimmer who was a leader in freestyle (200 and 400 meters) races in the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s, though often missing personal success. He also settled a record in the 40 ...

, although they are both from the same town.

1980 Olympics

He won a silver medal for Sweden in the 100 meter freestyle at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

with a time of 50.91, and was followed closely by Swedish team mate Per Johansson who took the bronze.

Honors

In 2006, Holmertz was inaugurated into the University of California at Berkeley's Sports Hall of Fame for his numerous wins and records for the school's swimteam in the early eighties. Holmertz graduated with a degree in economics from Cal in 1983.

Personal bests

Long course (50 m)

Clubs

*Motala SS *

Stockholmspolisens IF Stockholmspolisens IF is a Swedish sports club from Stockholm, Sweden, founded on 9 August 1914. Stockholmspolisens IF has departments in handball, basketball, football, judo, triathlon, swimming, diving, masters swimming, and water polo. From the ...

References

External links

Holmertz Olympic Profile
1960 births Living people People from Hallstahammar Municipality Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Sweden Swedish male freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Motala SS swimmers Stockholmspolisens IF swimmers Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Olympic silver medalists in swimming Sportspeople from Västmanland County 20th-century Swedish sportsmen {{Sweden-swimming-bio-stub