Richard Weinberger (born June 7, 1990) is a Canadian long-distance

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 ...

. Weinberger won a bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London in the 10-kilometre open water marathon. He is the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

champion and also has a bronze medal from the

2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The eleventh edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Irvine, California, United States, from August 18–22. M ...

Career

Weinberger participated in Open water swimming at major international competitions at a relatively young age. He started making a name for himself at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships where he won bronze as a twenty-year-old, then he went on to win the gold at the 2011 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara in the marathon 10 km event. 2012 proved to be a breakthrough year for Weinberger. In the lead up to the

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he won bronze and silver medals in the 10 km swim at various World Cup events. Weinberger qualified for the Olympics after he won silver at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swimming Qualifier in June 2012. At the 2012 Games, he won a bronze medal in the 10 km marathon, finishing behind

Oussama Mellouli Oussama "Ous" Mellouli (; born 16 February 1984) is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Trojans team based at the Univer ...

of Tunisia and

Thomas Lurz Thomas Lurz (born 28 November 1979) is a German swimmer who specializes in long-distance freestyle swimming, especially open water swimming. Lurz lives in Gerbrunn and swims for the SV Würzburg 05 sports club. Biography He competed for German ...

of Germany. He became the first Canadian to win a medal in the event. After his win some media outlets such as the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

were touting him as the future of Canadian Olympian swimmers. Weinberger himself said of his accomplishments that he was happy but "I want to be the Olympic champion in Rio in 2016." During the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Thomas Lurz Thomas Lurz (born 28 November 1979) is a German swimmer who specializes in long-distance freestyle swimming, especially open water swimming. Lurz lives in Gerbrunn and swims for the SV Würzburg 05 sports club. Biography He competed for German ...

. He won the Silver Medal at the 2015 FINA World Cup event in Chun'an China then later that year qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing 8th (top 10 qualified) at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. Richard also went on to finish 3rd at the 2015 Rio Olympic Test Event. Weinberger was named to Canada's Olympic team for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He headed to Rio with a strong performance at the 2016 FINA World Cup event in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

where he won the bronze medal finishing less than half a second behind silver and just over two seconds behind gold. He finished in 17th place at the

. In April 2017, Weinberger was named to Canada's

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships () were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

team in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Personal

Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Weinberger learned to swim at a family pool in a residential compound in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, where his father was working at the time. He was often moved around as his father is a commercial pilot. Weinberger spent much of his life in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

, where he attended

Semiahmoo Secondary School Semiahmoo Secondary School ( ) is a public High school#Canada, high school in South Surrey, British Columbia, and is part of School District 36 Surrey. It was founded in 1940 as the first senior secondary school in South Surrey. The school serves g ...

, but moved to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

to attend the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

where he currently resides and trains. He swims and trains with Ron Jacks at Pacific Coast Swimming, he got into open water swimming at the University of Victoria after seeing friend Dave Creel doing longer workouts. He admits that swimming in the open water sometimes scares him, as he often encounters wildlife in the water or even the vast depths of the ocean can lead to it getting into his head. He commented on it saying that "If I see anything I'll freak out, but if I don't see anything I'll freak out. It's a lose, lose situation for me."

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinberger, Richard 1990 births Living people Canadian male freestyle swimmers Canadian long-distance swimmers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Sportspeople from Moose Jaw Sportspeople from Surrey, British Columbia Swimmers from Victoria, British Columbia Swimmers at the 2011 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics University of Victoria alumni Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century Canadian sportsmen

Career

Personal

See also

References

External links