Roland Mark Schoeman
OIS (born 4 July 1980) is a South African American swimmer and was a member of the South African swimming team at the
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
,
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and
2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. In May 2022, he officially became
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
citizen.
Career
Born in
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
, Schoeman first took an interest in the sport when he was 13, and began to compete three years later. He said he began swimming only to impress a girl he met. This marked the beginning of a career that would see him attain a gold, silver and bronze medal at the
2004 Olympic Games
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), ...
; three gold, a silver and a bronze
World Championship
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, ...
medals, as well as four gold, three silvers and three bronzes at the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
. He set new South African records in the 100 m Freestyle (48.69 s), 50 m Freestyle (22.04 s), 100 m Butterfly (52.73 s) and 50 m Butterfly (23.65 s) events.
He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in
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 ...
in the
4 × 100 m freestyle, a silver medal 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 ...
event and a bronze in the
50 m freestyle. Three of the Men's 100 metre Freestyle team were in the team that broke the record and won gold at the
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
. He also claimed golds in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
Schoeman, who is asthmatic, was voted the African Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World in 2004, 2005 and 2006; and the South African Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. He was elected South African Sports Star of the Year in 2004.
In 2007, he received the South African Presidential Award Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, awarded for excellent achievements in the field of swimming.
At the 2005 FINA World Aquatics Championships in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Quebec, Canada he won two gold medals
0 m Butterfly (in a world record time of 22.96 s) and Freestyle (21.69 s, the second fastest time in history at the time) He also claimed a silver in 100 m freestyle.
In December 2005, Schoeman turned down a 40 Million Rand (US$5.9 million) contract to swim for Qatar. He stated reasons of national pride for turning down the offer and that hearing the South African national anthem and sharing the joy of his victories with his fellow South Africans is what made winning gold special.
At the 2007 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne Australia he successfully defended his 50m butterfly title. He also made the final of the 50 m and 100 m freestyle and was part of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team that finished fourth.
On 6 September 2008 Roland Schoeman set a new short course meters (25 m pool) world record of 20.64 at South African Nationals. Schoeman lost his world record in late 2008 but regained his record in August 2009. At the South Africa Short Course Championships, Schoeman swam 20.30 seconds. This time was broken in 2014 by
Florent Manaudou
]
Florent Manaudou (; born 12 November 1990) is a French competitive swimming (sport), swimmer, an Olympic champion of the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother of Laure Manaudou, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist i ...
.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Schoeman, aged 32, advanced to the final in the men's 50 m freestyle, clocking a 21.80 to finish 0.46 seconds behind the gold medal winner, Florent Manaudou.
In 2016, Schoeman missed qualification for a fifth Olympics.
Career best times
Schoeman has broken three long course world records (two individual, one relay) and six short course world records (all individual).
Accolades
In 2004 he was inducted into the
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
Sport Hall of fame.
[ Hall of fame Retrieved 25 June 2011]
See also
*
List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
This is the complete list of men's Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming from 1930 to 2022.
Current program
50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
50 metre backstroke
...
*
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 ...
*
World record progression 50 metres freestyle
The first world record in the men's 50 metres freestyle in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognized by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1976. In the short course (25 metres) swimming events the world's governing body recog ...
*
World record progression 100 metres freestyle
The first world record in the 100 metres freestyle in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1905. In the short course (25 metres) swimming events, the world's governing bod ...
*
World record progression 50 metres butterfly
*
World record progression 100 metres individual medley
This is a listing of the history of the World Record in the Swimming (sport), swimming event: 100 Individual Medley. The event consists of one 25-meter lap of each stroke (Butterfly (swimming), butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and Freestyle (s ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoeman, Roland
1980 births
Living people
Afrikaner people
Sportspeople from Pretoria
South African people of Dutch descent
University of Pretoria alumni
South African male swimmers
Male butterfly swimmers
South African male freestyle swimmers
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa
Olympic swimmers of South Africa
Olympic gold medalists for South Africa
Olympic silver medalists for South Africa
Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa
Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
World record holders in swimming
Olympic bronze medalists in swimming
World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga
Olympic gold medalists in swimming
Olympic silver medalists in swimming
Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
Goodwill Games medalists in swimming
Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games
Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games