Ryan Scott Mitchell (born 24 April 1977) is an Australian

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

swimmer of the 1990s, who won a silver medal 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 ...

in Sydney as part of the 4×100-metre medley relay team. Ryan began his swimming career in Port Augusta, where th
Ryan Mitchell municipal swimming center
is named after him today.

Early competitions

Growing up in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and being coached by Glenn Beringen at the

South Australian Sports Institute Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in the state of South Australia. Sport as entertainment plays an important role with South Australia, in 2007 having the second highest rate of event attendance ...

, Mitchell made his debut at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was the 1995 silver medalist in the 200-metre breaststroke at the world short course championships in Rio de Janeiro. He won selection to the national team for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta, after dead-heating with

Phil Rogers Philip John Rogers (born 24 April 1971) is a former breaststroke swimmer who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for Australia, starting in 1992. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. At his Olympic debut he w ...

to win the 200-metre breaststroke at the Australian Championships. In December of same year, Mirchell broke the world record for Men's 4×100-metre medley relay and the Australian & Commonwealth Shortcourse record for 200-metre breaststroke. He swam slower at the Olympics, finishing in eleventh place.

Silver at the 2000 Olympics

At the

1998 World Aquatics Championships The 8th FINA World Championships or the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held from 8 to 17 January 1998 in Perth, Western Australia. The championships features competition in all five of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, ...

in Perth, Western Australia, Mitchell finished fifth in the 200-metre breaststroke and then won silver at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

in Kuala Lumpur, behind fellow Australian

Simon Cowley Simon Cowley (born 4 October 1980) is a former Australian breaststroke swimmer. In March 2008, he was assaulted by Nick D'Arcy at a pub in Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South ...

, who won both breaststroke events. He gained selection to the

in Sydney after winning the 200-metre event and finishing third in the 100-metre event. At the Olympics, he finished eighth in the 200-metre breaststroke. After Australia's only 100-metre breaststroker

put in a poor performance in the individual event, Australian head coach

Don Talbot Donald Malcolm Talbot (23 August 19333 November 2020) was an Australian Olympic swimming coach and sport administrator. He coached national teams for Canada, the United States and Australia. Early life Talbot was born on 23 August 1933 as t ...

dropped Rogers and Mitchell swam in the heats of the 4×100-metre medley relay, even though he was not originally selected in the 100m breaststroke. Mitchell was replaced in the final by

Regan Harrison Regan Dean Harrison (born 25 November 1977) is an Australian former breaststroke swimmer of the 1990s and 2000s, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as part of the 4×100-metre medley relay team. He was educated at t ...

(who came fourth in the 200-metre breaststroke), who combined with

Matt Welsh Matthew James Welsh (born 18 November 1976) is an Australian swimmer who is the former world champion in the backstroke and butterfly. He took two golds in 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter backstroke, during one hour, at the World Championships ...

Geoff Huegill Geoffrey Andrew Huegill (born 4 March 1979) is an Australian swimmer and dual Olympian who won seventy-two international medals, including two medals in Olympics and six world champion titles, throughout his career. He held eight world records, ...

and

Michael Klim Michael George Klim, OAM (born 13 August 1977) is an Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and former world record-holder of the 1990s and 2000s. He is known as the creator of straight-arm freestyle. Early years Klim was ...

to claim silver, behind the Americans who broke the world record.

Leadership role

In March 2002, Mitchell was appointe
Chairman of the Australian Swimmers’ Commission
a professional association promoting the increasingly professional sport of swimming in that continent. Under his leadership, the Commission appointed its first General Manager on 28 July 2003 and the Australian Swimmers Association was officially incorporated on 24 September 2003. At this time the ASA expanded its Board to a ten-member Executive Committee of both current and former Australian swimmers. Mitchell continued to lead the organization until October 2009.

External links

ABC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Ryan 1977 births Living people Australian male breaststroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming People from Port Augusta Sportsmen from South Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games South Australian Sports Institute alumni Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games

Early competitions

Silver at the 2000 Olympics

Leadership role

See also

External links