Joel Thomas (swimmer)
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| Full name | Joel Ladd Thomas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 13, 1966 Pasadena, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 229 lb (104 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of California, Berkeley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Joel Ladd Thomas (born December 13, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist.
Thomas attended John Muir High School. He was honored with a selection as a second team All-League Water Polo player while competing for John Muir in January 1983.[1] In the Pacific League finals in May 1984, swimming for John Muir, Thomas set a league record in the 100-yard freestyle of 47.47.[2]
Thomas attended and swam for U Cal Berkeley, where he also played water polo as he had at John Muir High School. He helped the team win 1987 and 1988 NCAA Water Polo titles.[3]
His singularly most impressive achievement in swimming is likely his win in the US Open on December 2, 1990 against Matt Biondi in the 100-meter freestyle, where he set a time of 50.46. Thomas was training with Coach Jack Nelson's Fort Lauderdale Swim Club in Fort Lauderdale at the time.[3][4] In December, 1990, while swimming the 200-yard freestyle event, Thomas also set a new 100-yard freestyle record of 43.77 at the Hall of Fame Trophy Meet in Fort Lauderdale, breaking the 15-year old record of Andy Coan set in 1975.[5] Thomas led the U.S. National Team in a meet against University of Tennessee in Knoxville winning the 100-yard freestyle in 50.89, though it was not his fastest time that year, anchoring the winning 400-meter medley relay team, and leading off the winning 400-meter freestyle relay team.[6]
Pan Am Games[edit]
At the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, Thomas won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay. Individually, he also received a silver medal for finishing second in the 100-meter freestyle event.[3]
1992 Olympics[edit]
Thomas represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.[7] He received a gold medal for swimming for the first-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Whipple Given MVP", Monrovia News-Post, Monrovia, California, 2 January 1983, pg. 5
- ^ "Arcadia Dominates League Swim Finals", Monrovia News Post, Monrovia, California, 10 May 1984, pg. 13
- ^ a b c {{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51587%7Ctitle=Olympedia, Joel Thomas|website=Olympedia.com|access-date=9 June 1924
- ^ "Swimmer's Sacrifices Paying Off", The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, 4 December 1990, pg. 40
- ^ Rob, Sharon, "Pair of Coan Marks Fall After 15 Years," South Florida Sun Sentinel, 10 December 1990, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pg. 30
- ^ "Pace, Thomas Win For U.S. National Team", South Florida Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 16 December 1990, pg. 51
- ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Joel Thomas Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
- ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, United States Swimming at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
External links[edit]
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Joel Thomas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24.
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- 1966 births
- Living people
- American male freestyle swimmers
- California Golden Bears men's swimmers
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- Sportspeople from Pasadena, California
- Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade
- Summer World University Games medalists in swimming
- FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States
- Swimmers at the 1991 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games
- American swimming biography stubs
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming