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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 S ...
,
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 60 ...
,
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
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citizen.


Career

Born in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the footh ...
, 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 in the 4 × 100 m freestyle, a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle 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 second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
, 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 ...
. 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 research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...
Sport Hall of fame. Hall of fame Retrieved 25 June 2011


See also

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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 recogni ...
*
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 body ...
* 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 event: 100 Individual Medley. The event consists of one 25-meter lap of each stroke (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle), and as such is only recognized in shor ...


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