Simon Andrew Burnett (born 14 April 1983) is an English former competition

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 represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. He formerly held the

British Records British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in the 100 and 200-metre freestyles. Burnett attended and competed for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in the

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from 2001-2006, utilizing a

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leading up to the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

for his 2003 collegiate season. In 2007 signed a sponsorship deal with

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Swimming career

Simon was born at the

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, the second of the three sons of Ray Burnett and Melanie Verhoeven. He lived in the

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

village of

Chinnor Chinnor is a large village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about southeast of Thame and close to the border with Buckinghamshire. The village is a spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment. Sinc ...

as a child, and then moved a few miles to

Tetsworth Tetsworth is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. Its Parish Council is made up of six elected Councillors. The estimated population in 2018 was 752 persons. According to the Council (in late 2019), the business incl ...

, attending

Lord Williams's School Lord Williams's School is a co-educational secondary school with academy status in Thame, Oxfordshire, England. The school takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 2,200 pupils. In September 2001 ...

Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the ...

, Oxfordshire. After completing his

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s, he went to

John Hampden Grammar School John Hampden Grammar School (known colloquially as "JHGS") is a selective state boys' grammar school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is named after the local member of parliament and English Civil War commander John Hampden. In ...

, in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, to study chemistry, biology, and physics at

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. He first swam at Wycombe District Swimming Pool from a very young age, and soon joined the Wycombe District Swimming Club, where he remained until 2003. He was coached by Bob Pay and his move to John Hampden, which was local to the Wycombe Sports Centre at which he trained, helped him focus further on swimming. In 2003, with the help of Pay, Burnett won a sports scholarship at the

to study business. Burnett began competing at an international level in 2000 at the 3 Nations Junior International. At the ASA National Championships, he won

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the 50-meter backstroke in 2001 and 2002. On the advice of Pay, Burnett switched to swim

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'', ...

in 2003 and began to excel. His television debut was in 2002 at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay and won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

. The following

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

saw Burnett finish 7th in the 200-metre freestyle, and he competed in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team, which finished 4th, nearly grabbing bronze medals. The British trials for the Games had been a great success for Simon, in which he won a silver medal in 100-metre freestyle and a gold medal in the 200-metre freestyle, despite having broken his wrist in a cycling accident in Arizona two months previously. He was now emerging as an elite British swimmer. Swimming for the

, Burnett competed in the American NCAAs and won gold in his first year in the 200-yard freestyle and in 2005. 2005 was probably his best year yet, returning to England as well for the ASA National Championships. He won three gold medals in the 50-metre, 100-metre, and 200-metre freestyle, all of which were new British records. In the United States, he also broke the 17-year-old record for the 200-yard freestyle set by

Matt Biondi Matthew Nicholas Biondi (born October 8, 1965) is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Oly ...

at 1:33.03; Burnett swam a 1:32.22. At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

in Melbourne, Burnett competed in the 200-metre freestyle and won silver with a time of 1:47.38, beaten by team mate

Ross Davenport Ross Paul Davenport (born 23 May 1984) is an English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain in the Olympics, world and European championships, and swam for England in the Commonwealth Games. He won two gold medals in the 2006 Com ...

, who swam a personal best of 1:47.29. He was also part of the relay team in the 4×100-metre freestyle, finishing fourth, with the South African favourites taking gold. However, the most sensational race was the 4×200-metre freestyle, when the

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team won the gold medal, nudging

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into second place and Australia into third. The next day, he won individual gold in the 100-metre freestyle, leaving the South African entrants

Ryk Neethling Ryk Neethling OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as a three-time World Aquatic Champion and four-time World Record breaking Olympic swimming champion, participating in four Olympics for South Af ...

and

Roland 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 ...

into second and third respectively. With a time of 48.57 seconds, he set a Commonwealth Games record and broke his own British record by eleven one-hundredths of a second. Before the Commonwealth Games had ended, Burnett was off to Atlanta for the 2006

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) championships. Burnett finished third in the 50-yard freestyle, second in the 4×50-yard freestyle relay, and first in the 4×50-yard medley for the Wildcats. He won the NCAA title in the 200-yard freestyle and broke the U.S. Open Record with a time of 1:31.20. Burnett's NCAA and U.S. Open record stood for 10 years until

Townley Haas Francis Townley Haas (born December 13, 1996) is a retired American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is an Olympic Games, Olympic gold medalist in the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 ...

of the University of Texas broke it with a time of 1:30.46 at the 2016 NCAA Championships in the

Georgia Tech Aquatic Center The Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center (abbreviated CRC, formerly known as the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center and the Georgia Tech Student Athletic Center) is part of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech campus. History Georgia Te ...

, the same venue in which Burnett broke the record a decade prior. Burnett represented

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (B ...

in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay swimming event. In March 2009 he became the patron of the newly formed Thame Swimming Club, located at Lord Williams's Upper School, in Thame. He comes and meets the swimmers and helps with training whenever he is in the UK. In 2010, Burnett became patron of the Oxfordshire charity, UCARE (Urology Cancer Research and Education). Simon has been a committed advocate for UCARE, thinking strategically about supporting the charity's twin aims – to raise funds for research and to raise awareness of urological cancers – dedicating his medal to UCARE at the Commonwealth Games and attending events whenever he can.

Coaching career

In June 2015, Burnett joined the

Pacific Tigers The Pacific Tigers represent the University of the Pacific (United States), University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division I, and are currently in their second stint as members ...

men's swimming and diving team as an assistant coach.

Personal Bests

; Long course (50 m) ; Short course (25 m)

References

External links

Swimming career

Coaching career

Personal Bests

See also

References

External links