Benjamin Marshall Wildman-Tobriner (born September 21, 1984) is an American competition swimmer, Olympic
gold medalist, and former world record-holder.
Early life
Wildman-Tobriner was born in San Francisco to Michael Tobriner and Stephanie Wildman, and is Jewish. He grew up in San Francisco with his parents and older sister, Rebecca. He attended
Lick-Wilmerding High School
Lick-Wilmerding High School is a private college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California, United States.
History
Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a ...
of San Francisco. Wildman-Tobriner's paternal grandfather,
Mathew Tobriner, served as a
California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
for 20 years.
Swimming career
Wilman-Tobriner began his career swimming for a local recreational team called Swimarin in the Marin Swim League until the age of 12. Even at that age, he managed to set several team, pool, and league records and become recognized for his talents. Around the age of 12, he joined the Fog City Hammerheads Swim Team under the instruction of the notable coach, Matthew "Berto" Roberto.
He attended
Lick-Wilmerding High School
Lick-Wilmerding High School is a private college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California, United States.
History
Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a ...
, where he was a four-year varsity swimmer, and three-time MVP. While in high school he received numerous
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n awards for swimming excellence, and set the
California North Coast Sectional record in the freestyle and achieving the second-fastest time for a 17- to 18-year-old male in the 50-meter freestyle in the United States. After graduating Lick-Wilmerding, Wildman-Tobriner attended
Stanford University where, as well as swimming all four years, he graduated in 2007 as a Biomechanical Engineer.
Wildman-Tobriner is most famous for his achievements in the 50-meter freestyle. In the spring on 2007, he competed in the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
where he won the 50-meter freestyle in a time of 21.88 seconds. He had the former American record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 18.87 seconds. He currently has 1 NCAA gold medal for the 400 Medley Relay (2005) as well as more than a dozen All-Americans and
Pac-10 championships.
In December 2007, Wildman-Tobriner injured his left
pectoral
Pectoral may refer to:
* The chest region and anything relating to it.
* Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest
* a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget
* Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt
* Pectorali ...
tendon, completely separating it from the
humerus bone. After surgery, he resumed training, at first swimming using only his right arm, with his left arm in a sling. By May 2008, he had recovered enough to compete again, finishing fourth in a race in Santa Clara.
On July 3, 2008, Wildman-Tobriner qualified for the Olympic relay team as the second alternate in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. In Beijing, during the evening preliminary heats on August 10, he became a member of the World Record 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (3:12.23) by swimming the third leg in a time of 48.03. The next day, Wildman-Tobriner earned a gold medal (but lost the world record) when
Jason Lezak
Jason Edward Lezak (born November 12, 1975) is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spannin ...
swam down
Alain Bernard
Alain Bernard (; born 1 May 1983) is a former French swimmer from Aubagne, Bouches-du-Rhône.
Bernard won a total of four medals (two golds, one silver, and one bronze) at two Olympic Games (2008 and 2012). He also won numerous medals at the W ...
in the final leg of the relay's final in world record time.
Post-swimming career
After the Olympics, he went on to medical school at the
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It con ...
. Since 2018, he has been an assistant professor of radiology at the
Duke University School of Medicine.
See also
*
List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
This is the complete list of men's Olympic medalists in swimming.
Men's events 50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
100 metre backstroke
200 metre ...
*
List of select Jewish swimmers
*
List of Stanford University people
This page lists the members of Stanford University, including students, alumni, faculty and academic affiliates associated.
Stanford office Presidents
Acting presidents were temporary appointments. Swain served while Wilbur was United Sta ...
*
*
World record progression 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildman-Tobriner, Ben
1984 births
Living people
American male freestyle swimmers
American radiologists
Duke University School of Medicine faculty
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish swimmers
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
Swimmers from San Francisco
Stanford Cardinal men's swimmers
Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
World record setters in swimming
21st-century American Jews