Hem Kiry (born April 11, 1980) is a Cambodian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), and served twice as Cambodia's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. He also held a Cambodian record of 26.48 in the 50 m freestyle from the Southeast Asian Games. Hem is currently working as a swimming coach for the Cambodia national team. Hem made his official debut 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he competed in the men's 50 m freestyle. Swimming in heat two, he posted a lifetime best of 26.41 to earn a fifth spot and sixty-sixth overall by a 1.08-second margin behind winner

Jamie Peterkin Jamie Peterkin (born February 28, 1982) is a male swimmer from Castries, Saint Lucia. He swam for Saint Lucia in the 2000 Summer Olympics, finishing 59th in the 50-meter freestyle. He is a member of the University of Kentucky The University of K ...

of Saint Lucia. 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), ...

in Athens, Hem swam for the second time in the

50 m freestyle 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

. As part of an Olympic Solidarity program, he received a Universality place from FINA in an entry time of 27.56. He challenged seven other swimmers in heat three, including 16-year-old Chris Hackel of Mauritius. He edged out Libya's Khaled Ghezzawi to take another fifth spot by six hundredths of a second in 27.49. Hem failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed seventieth overall out of 86 swimmers in the preliminaries. He is a son of Hem Thon (1943–2015), who was also a swimmer. His siblings, sister Hem Raksmey and brother

Hem Thon Ponloeu Hem Thon Ponleu (born 26 January 1990) is a Cambodian freestyle swimmer. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) ...

are also swimmers.

References

External links

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Profile – ICECP
(International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program) 1980 births Living people Cambodian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Cambodia Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Phnom Penh Swimmers at the 1998 Asian Games Swimmers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Cambodia {{Cambodia-swimming-bio-stub