Joseph "Gunnar" Bentz (born January 3, 1996) is an American former competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and Olympic gold medalist.

Early life

Bentz graduated from St. Pius X Catholic High School in 2014.

Career

He is a four-time medalist (two gold, two bronze) at the

FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The FINA World Junior Swimming Championships (or "Junior Worlds") is a swimming championship event organized by FINA for girls aged 14–17 and boys aged 15–18 on 31 December of the year of the competition. It is held biennially, and has been hel ...

and a two-time medalist (one silver, one bronze) at 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 ...

. Bentz competes for the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

with the Georgia Bulldogs swimming and diving team in American collegiate swimming. Bentz was the 2015 USA National Champion in the 400m Individual Medley. In June 2016, he qualified for the 4 × 200 m

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

relay at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Bentz swam in the preliminaries of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the

. Replaced by the team of

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

Ryan Lochte Ryan Steven Lochte ( ; born August 3, 1984) is an American professional swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by to ...

Conor Dwyer Conor James Dwyer (born January 10, 1989) is a former American competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He competed in freestyle and medley events, and won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team a ...

, and

Townley Haas Francis Townley Haas (born December 13, 1996) is a retired American competitive swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Haas c ...

, Bentz was not in the final but received a medal. In 2018 Gunnar Bentz was qualified for the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru.

Gas station incident during 2016 Olympics

On the morning of August 14, Bentz's teammate

claimed that he, Bentz,

Jack Conger John "Jack" Peet Conger (born September 26, 1994) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in butterfly and freestyle events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de ...

, and

Jimmy Feigen James Feigen (born September 26, 1989) is a former American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events. He won a gold medal for the 4x100-meter freestyle relay for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Previously, he won a silver medal as a me ...

were robbed after four men forced them out of their taxi at gunpoint. Bentz, 20 at the time of this incident, was required to be back in the Olympic Village by 1:00 am as the 1:00 am curfew was relaxed just for team members 21 or older by Frank Busch, U.S.A. Swimming's national team director. The Brazilian authorities questioned this account, and after Lochte had flown home on August 16, Bentz and Conger were prevented from leaving the country and their passports were seized; this was done in order to have them testify as witnesses of the incident. Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro concluded that the athletes were not robbed, but instead had been involved in an incident at a gas station in

Barra da Tijuca Barra da Tijuca () (usually known as Barra) is an upper-class neighborhood or bairro in the Rio de Janeiro#West Zone, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known for it ...

, west of the city. This investigation found that the swimmers stopped at a gas station near Casa França, where they were involved in a confrontation with security guards regarding vandalism some or all of the swimmers had caused in a bathroom while intoxicated. They also claimed that the swimmers had already paid in cash 100

reais The Brazilian real ( pl. '; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994. A ...

($31) and $20 in U.S. currency as compensation for objects from the bathroom which were damaged, such as a soap holder, a mirror, and a "Please Do Not Enter" sign. According to anonymous police sources, Bentz and Conger told the police that Lochte's robbery story was fabricated. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

reported that Bentz and Conger "refuted Lochte's claim that the group was held up by armed assailants". After Bentz returned to the United States, he released a statement about the incident. He admitted to urinating behind the gas station, and wrote that Lochte pulled down a framed metal advertisement, but denied witnessing any damage caused to the bathroom.

International Swimming League

In 2019 Bentz was member of the

2019 International Swimming League The 2019 International Swimming League was the inaugural edition of the International Swimming League, a professional swimming league, established in 2019. It comprised eight teams composed of both women and men. The league consisted of seven sho ...

, representing

Team Iron Team Iron is a professional swimming team co-owned by Katinka Hosszú, and a founding member of the International Swimming League. The team is based in Budapest, Hungary, led by general manager Dorina Szekeres and head coach Jozsef Nagy. During ...

2020 Olympic Trials

In 2021, Bentz qualified for the 2020 Olympic Team, placing 2nd in the 200m butterfly at the finals of the US Olympic Team Trials.

Career best times

Long course (50-meter pool)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentz, Joseph 1996 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers American male medley swimmers Georgia Bulldogs men's swimmers Swimmers from Atlanta Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Prisoners and detainees of Brazil Pan American Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century American people