George Gleason (born August 8, 1979) is a former swimmer from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), a swimming captain for the

Yale Bulldogs The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in ...

, and a graduate of sociology (2001) at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. Gleason also capped his swimming career by an eleventh-place finish in the 200 m backstroke at the NCAA Swimming Championships in

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...

, earning him All-American honors.

Career

Gleason made his official debut, as U.S. Virgin Islands' only swimmer, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

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. He failed to advance into the semifinals in any of his individual events, placing thirty-ninth in the 200 m freestyle (1:54.64) and forty-second each in the

100 m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

(52.00) and 200 m individual medley (2:08.25). At the

2002 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 6th FINA Short Course World Championships were held in Moscow, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Gleason tackled an extended program of five swimming events, highlighted by a 16th-place finish in the 200 metre freestyle (1:47.69) where he challenged 8 other swimmers in heat 7, including Olympic medalist

George Bovell George Richard Lycott Bovell (born 18 July 1983) is an Olympic bronze medalist swimmer and former world record holder from Trinidad and Tobago. Bovell is also a two-time World Championship bronze medalist. Olympic career George Bovell represen ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, who out-touched Gleason by 0.03 seconds. Gleason also competed in the 200 metre backstroke (19th overall, 1:58.18), 100 metre individual medley (21st overall, 56.24), 200 metre individual medley (28th overall, 2:02.29), and 50 metre freestyle (37th overall, 23.19). In the summer of 2003, Gleason competed in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, where he raced to FINA Olympic B-standard entry times of 51.64 (100 m freestyle) and 57.13 (100 m backstroke). His eighth-place effort in the 100 m backstroke marked his highest result at a major international competition. Gleason also helped the freestyle relay teams (both 100 and 200 m) for the Virgin Islands to sixth-place finishes. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

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, Gleason shortened his program by qualifying for two swimming events. He achieved FINA B-standard entry times of 51.64 (100 m freestyle) and 57.13 (100 m backstroke) from the

. In the

100 m backstroke 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Gleason challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including Olympic veteran

Nicholas Neckles Nicholas ("Nick") Alfred Neckles (born 24 November 1978 in Bridgetown, Barbados) is a 3-time Olympic swimmer from Barbados. He swam for Barbados at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics. Heckles also competed at the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Pan American ...

of Barbados. He raced to fifth place and thirty-seventh overall by 0.07 of a second behind Finland's

Matti Mäki Matti Mäki (born March 17, 1982 in Oulu) is a male backstroke swimmer from Finland. He competed for his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ...

, outside his entry time of 57.64. In his second event,

, Gleason placed forty-fourth overall out of 71 swimmers from the morning's preliminaries. He raced to sixth place in heat four at 51.69, just 0.05 of a second off his entry time from the Pan American Games.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, George 1979 births Living people United States Virgin Islands male swimmers Olympic swimmers for the United States Virgin Islands Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for the United States Virgin Islands United States Virgin Islands male freestyle swimmers Male backstroke swimmers People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Yale Bulldogs men's swimmers