Michael Klim

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Olympic medal record
Competitor for Flag of Australia Australia
Men’s Swimming
Gold 2000 Sydney 4 x 100 m Freestyle Relay
Gold 2000 Sydney 4 x 200 m Freestyle Relay
Silver 2000 Sydney 100 m Butterfly
Silver 2000 Sydney 4 x 100 m Medley Relay
Silver 2004 Athens 4 x 200 m Freestyle Relay
Bronze 1996 Atlanta 4 x 100 m Medley Relay
Michael Kilm in a television commercial for Rydges Hotels
Michael Kilm in a television commercial for Rydges Hotels

Michael Klim OAM (born August 13, 1977 in Gdynia) is a Polish-born Australian swimmer.

Klim was first selected to represent Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada in 1994. In 1996, he arrived at the Atlanta Olympics ranked first in the world for the 200 m freestyle, but was surprisingly eliminated in the heats. He rebounded to qualify for a finals position in the 100 m butterfly, and swam the freestyle leg in the 4x100 m medley relay, in which Australia claimed a bronze medal.

1998 was Michael Klim's year in the sun. In January, the World Championships were held in Perth, and in front of a boisterous home crowd, he was the leading swimmer of the meet. He triumphed in the 200 m freestyle and the 100 m butterfly, and added silver in the 100 m freestyle, and 50 m freestyle. He was a member of each of Australia's three relay teams, winning gold in the 4x200 m freestyle relay and 4x100 m medley relay, and a silver in the 4x100 m freestyle relay. For his achievements he was named the swimmer of the year by SwimmingWorld magazine.

In 1999, he set a world record in the 100 m butterfly, in a FINA sanctioned time trial (51.81s). It was broken at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona by the Ukrainian Andriy Serdinov in the first semifinal of the 100 m butterfly, and then broken another time in the next semifinal by Michael Phelps.

In 2000, at the Sydney Olympics, Klim set a world record (48:18) leading off the 4x100 m freestyle relay, which paved the way for a world record (3:13.67), which was the first time that the United States had ever been defeated in the blue-ribbon relay. Three days later, he was part of the 4x200 m freestyle relay, which set another world record(7:07.05), which left the opposition over 5 seconds in arrears on its way to victory. He entered the 100 m freestyle as the world record holder, but his feats in the relay left him fatigued, coming home in 4th place, behind Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband, who claimed the world record (47.84) in a semifinal. Again in the 100 m butterfly, he was the world record holder, but was cut down in the closing stages by Sweden's Lars Frölander, finishing second. He also claimed silver as part of the 4x100 m medley relay team.

In 2001, hampered by an ankle injury, Klim was restricted to relay duties, and contributed to another world record, winning gold in the 4x200 m relay (7:04.66). He also collected a gold medal in the 4x100 m freestyle relay.

In 2002 and 2003, he did not compete, due to chronic back and shoulder problems.

In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, he returned to relay duties, collecting a silver in the 4x200 m relay.

In 2005, he swam at the World Championships in Montreal, in the 100 m freestyle, returning to individual action, but failed to progress past the semifinals. He won bronze as part of the 4x100 m freestyle relay.

He is married to Balinese princess and former model Lindy Rama, who grew up in Tasmania. She gave birth to their first child, daughter Stella, in early 2006, they wed shortly thereafter.



Olympic champions in men's 4x200 m freestyle relay

1908 Great Britain - John Henry Derbyshire, Paul Radmilovic, William Foster, Henry Taylor
1912 Australasia - Cecil Healy, Malcolm Champion, Leslie Boardman, Harold Hardwick
1920 United States - Perry McGilivray, Pua Kela Kealoha, Norman Ross, Duke Kahanamoku
1924 United States - Walter O'Connor, Harry Glancy, Ralph Breyer, Johnny Weissmuller
1928 United States - Austin Clapp, Walter Laufer, George Kojac, Johnny Weissmuller
1932 Japan - Yasuji Miyazaki, Masonori Yusa, Takashi Yomoyama, Hisakichi Toyoda
1936 Japan - Masanori Yusa, Shigeo Suguira, Masaharu Taguchi, Shigeo Arai
1948 United States - Walter Ris, James McLane, Wallace Wolf, William Smith
1952 United States - Wayne Moore, William Woolsey, Ford Konno, James McLane
1956 Australia - Kevin O'Halloran, John Devitt, Murray Rose, Jon Henricks
1960 United States - George Harrison, Richard Blick, Michael Troy, Jeffrey Farrell
1964 United States - Stephen Clark, Roy Saari, Gary Ilman, Don Schollander
1968 United States - John Nelson, Stephen Rerych, Mark Spitz, Don Schollander
1972 United States - John Kinsella, Fred Tyler, Steve Genter, Mark Spitz
1976 United States - Mike Bruner, Bruce Furniss, John Naber, Jim Montgomery
1980 Soviet Union - Sergei Kopliakov, Vladimir Salnikov, Ivar Stukolkin, Andrei Krylov
1984 United States - Michael Heath, David Larson, Jeffrey Float, Bruce Hayes
1988 United States - Troy Dalbey, Matthew Cetlinski, Doug Gjertsen, Matt Biondi
1992 Unified Team - Dmitri Lepikov, Vladimir Pychnenko, Veniamin Taianovich, Yevgeny Sadovyi
1996 United States - Josh Davis, Joe Hudepohl, Bradley Schumacher, Ryan Berube
2000 Australia - Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim, Todd Pearson, Bill Kirby
2004 United States - Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, Klete Keller


Preceded by
Denis Pankratov
World Swimmer of the Year
1997
Succeeded by
Ian Thorpe


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