Heiko Hell (born 5 May 1980) is a German former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He is a nine-time German swimming champion in the 400, 800, and 1500 m freestyle (2000–2004), and also a three-time Olympic finalist. Hell is a member of Hamburg City Swimming Club (german: Startgemeinschaft Schwimmen Hamburg), and is coached and trained by Dirk Lange. Hell 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 ...

with a three-event program. On the first day of the Games, Hell missed a spot for the top 8 final of the 400 m freestyle, finishing in ninth place with a time of 3:50.80. He also competed for the sixth-place German team in the preliminary heats of the men's freestyle relay. Teaming with Michael Kiedel,

Christian Keller Christian Keller (born August 3, 1972 in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia). is a former medley and freestyle swimmer from Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the sec ...

, and Stefan Herbst, Hell swam the lead-off leg and recorded a time of 1:50.48. In his last event, 1500 m freestyle, Hell finished outside the medals in eighth place by more than 10 seconds behind Ukraine's

Igor Chervynskiy Ihor Chervynskyy (Ігор Червинський, also spelled Igor Chervynskiy, born 16 December 1981) is a Ukrainian swimmer who competes in the freestyle events. At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships he won a bronze medal in the 800 met ...

in 15:19.87. 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), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Hell shortened his program, swimming only in the 400 m freestyle. He finished first ahead of his teammate

Christian Hein Christian Hein (born 6 September 1982) is a German former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events and open water marathon. He won two silver medals in both 5 and 10 km open water swimming at the 2003 FINA World Championsh ...

from the Olympic trials, in a FINA A-standard of 3:51.48. On the first morning of the Games, Hell placed eighteenth in the preliminaries. Swimming in heat four, he raced to fifth place by a 4.55-second margin behind winner and defending Olympic silver medalist

Massimiliano Rosolino Massimiliano "Massi" Rosolino (born 11 July 1978) is an Italian retired competitive swimmer. Biography Born in Naples to an Italian father, Salvatore, and an Australian mother, Carolyn, he moved to Australia at the age of three, coming back to ...

of Italy, outside his entry time of 3:52.06. He also teamed up with Jens Schreiber,

Lars Conrad Lars Conrad (born 1 June 1976) is an Olympic and national record holding freestyle swimmer from Germany. He swam for Germany at 2000 and 2004 Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he was part of Germany's silver-medal winner 4×100 m medley ...

, and

in the freestyle relay. Swimming the second leg, Hell recorded a split of 1:49.15, but the Germans pulled off again with a sixth-place effort, in a final time of 7:16.51.

References

External links

Profile – German Swimming Federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hell, Heiko 1980 births Living people People from Pinneberg German male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Germany Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics German male freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Schleswig-Holstein 20th-century German people 21st-century German people