Ryan Held (born June 27, 1995) is an American

freestyle swimmer Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common ...

who specializes in the sprint events, and is currently sponsored by Arena. He holds the U.S. Open record in the long course 100 meter freestyle and three world records in short course relay events. 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 ...

he won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, swimming in both the prelims and the final of the event. In 2021, he won silver medals in the 50 meter freestyle and the

100 meter 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 ...

at the 2021 World Short Course Championships. At his first FINA World Aquatics Championships, the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay.

Background

He attended Christ the King grade school in Springfield, Illinois, and attended high school at Sacred-Heart Griffin, where he graduated in 2014 and was coached by Dr. James Stegeman. During his senior year in 2014, Held was named Illinois State Swimmer of the Year.

Career

2016 Summer Olympics

At the 2016 US trials he qualified for the

as a member of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay team. In the Olympic heats, he swam a split time of 47.79 on the second leg, impressing the coaching staff enough to give him the nod to swim in the final. Although Held's time was not as fast as Anthony Ervin’s, head coach Bob Bowman made the decision due to youth since "Younger legs, coming back so quickly". In the final he split 47.73 on the third leg to preserve Team USA's lead, winning the gold medal together with Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian. Held and the other finals relay members won the USA Swimming Foundation Golden Goggle Award for "Relay Performance of the Year" for their performance.Griffus, Annette (November 21, 2016)
"Adrian, 4x100 free win Relay Performance of the Year at Golden Goggles"
'' Kitsap Sun''. Retrieved October 30, 2021.

2018 World Championships

At the 2018 World Short Course Championships in Hangzhou,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Held won four gold medals and one silver medal. In the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, Held anchored the finals relay consisting of him, Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, and Michael Chadwick to a gold medal win in a world record time of 3:03.03. FINA (December 11, 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved October 30, 2021. For the 4×50 meter mixed freestyle relay, Held split a 20.60 for the second leg of the relay and helped the finals relay set a new world record and win the gold medal in the event with a finals relay time of 1:27.89. FINA (December 12, 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved October 30, 2021. In the final of the 4×50 meter freestyle relay, Held swam the fastest split of his relay teammates, Caeleb Dressel, Jack Conger, and Michael Chadwick, with a time of 20.25 seconds, which helped the relay win the gold medal and set a new world record in the event at 1:21.80. FINA (December 14, 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 4x50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved October 30, 2021. Gold eluded Held in the 4×50 meter medley relay where he swam the freestyle leg of the relay, earned a silver medal, and helped set an American record of 1:30.90 in the final with Ryan Murphy (backstroke), Michael Andrew (breaststroke), and Caeleb Dressel (butterfly). FINA (December 15, 2018)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 4x50m Medley Relay Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved October 30, 2021. Concluding his competition at the Championships, Held swam the freestyle leg of the 4×100 meter medley relay, splitting a time of 45.23 seconds to help the finals relay win the gold medal and set a new Americas record and Championships record of 3:19.98 in the event. FINA (December 16, 2021)
"14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Hangzhou (CHN): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved October 30, 2021.

2019

At the 2019 Phillips 66 Summer National Championships in Stanford, California, Held ranked first in the 100 meter freestyle prelims heats with a time of 47.43 seconds on July 31, which broke the U.S. Open record and Championships record of 47.58 seconds set by Jason Lezak over 11 years earlier on July 2, 2008. USA Swimming (July 31, 2019)
"2019 Phillips 66 National Championships: Men's 100m Freestyle Preliminary Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 30 October 2021. Later the same day in the final, Held won the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 47.39 seconds, breaking his own U.S. Open and Championships records he set earlier in the day. USA Swimming (July 31, 2019)
"2019 Phillips 66 National Championships: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 30 October 2021.

2021 World Championships

Held entered to compete in the short course 50 meter freestyle and 100 meter freestyle for his individual events at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in December in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, United Arab Emirates."2021 FINA Short Course World Championships Roster"
'' USA Swimming''. October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. As part of the United States team for the Championships, Held was number two on "The Week That Was" honor for the week of November 1, 2021 from '' Swimming World''.Rieder, David (November 1, 2021)
"The Week That Was: Chalmers Takes Down 13-Year-Old World Record"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved November 1, 2021. Gaining racing experience in short course meters as preparation for the World Championships, Held competed at the 2021 Ron Johnson Masters Championship in Tempe, Arizona in November, where he swam a 21.28 and broke the Masters world record in the 50 meter freestyle for the 25–29 age group set at 21.37 by César Cielo in 2014.Keith, Braden (November 21, 2021)
"Ryan Held Breaks Cesar Cielo's World Record In The 50 Free (Masters)"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

''. Retrieved November 21, 2021. On day one of competition, Held split a 46.17 for the anchor leg of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, qualifying it to the final ranked second with prelims relay teammates

Shaine Casas Shaine Casas (born December 25, 1999) is an American professional swimmer. He is an Americas record holder in the short course 4×50 meter medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay. At the 2021 World Short Course Championships, he ...

, Hunter Tapp, and

Tom Shields ] Thomas Allen Shields (born July 11, 1991) is an American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. He is a two-time Olympian and the current American record-holder in the short course 50-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly. At the 2016 Summ ...

. FINA (December 16, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 16, 2021. In the final, Zach Apple, substituted in for Tom Shields and the relay finished in a time of 3:05.42 to win the bronze medal. FINA (December 16, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 16, 2021.Moss, Bonnie (December 16, 2021)
"U.S. Women Win Gold on First Day of 2021 FINA World Championships (25m)"
'' USA Swimming''. Retrieved December 16, 2021. The second day, Held achieved a fourth-place finish in the 4×50 meter mixed freestyle relay with his finals relay teammates in 1:29.04, splitting a 20.86 for the lead-off leg of the relay. FINA (December 17, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 17, 2021. In the morning of day three, Held finished second in prelims heat ten of the 50 meter freestyle behind Ben Proud of Great Britain with a time of 21.01, which qualified Held for the semifinals ranking third overall. FINA (December 18, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 18, 2021. Held ranked first in the semifinals later in the day with a 20.81, less than one-tenth of a second ahead of second-ranked Joshua Liendo of Canada. FINA (December 18, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 50m Freestyle Semifinals Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 18, 2021.Sampl, Emily (December 18, 2021)
"Fink, White Lead a Six-Medal Charge on #FINAAbuDhabi2021 Day Three"
'' USA Swimming''. Retrieved December 18, 2021. On day four, Held led-off the 4×50 meter freestyle relay with a personal best time of 20.72 seconds and helped the relay achieve a time of 1:23.81, which placed them fourth. FINA (December 19, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 4x50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 19, 2021. Later in the same session Held won the silver medal in the 50 meter freestyle with a personal best time of 20.70 seconds, which was the first individual medal of his career at a World Championships. FINA (December 19, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 19, 2021.Rieder, David (December 19, 2021)
"Ryan Held Breaks Streak of Bad Timing With Individual World Championships Medal and Relay Gold"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved December 19, 2021. In his final event of the evening, Held helped set an American record of 6:47.00 and win the gold medal in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay with finals relay teammates Kieran Smith,

Trenton Julian Trenton Jeffrey Julian (born December 9, 1998) is an American competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay and 4×100 meter medley relay. He won a gold medal in the 4×200 meter freestyle re ...

, and

Carson Foster Carson Foster (born October 26, 2001) is an American competitive swimming (sport), swimmer. He is a three-time gold medalist at the 2019 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, 2019 World Junior Championships and a two-time silver medalist at t ...

. FINA (December 19, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 19, 2021.Lohn, John (December 19, 2021)
"Claire Curzan, Men's 800 Freestyle Relay Set American Records at Short Course Worlds Championships"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved December 19, 2021. In the morning of day five, Held ranked fifth in the prelims heats of the

with a 46.72, qualifying for the semifinals along with fellow American Zach Apple. FINA (December 20, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 20, 2021. Held anchored the 4×50 meter medley relay in the evening final, splitting a 20.52 to contribute to the gold-medal-winning time of 1:30.51, which tied the Russia relay team, set a new American record, and tied the Championships record and Americas record. FINA (December 20, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 4x50m Medley Relay Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 20, 2021.Rieder, David (December 20, 2021)
"U.S. Men Lower American Record in 200 Medley Relay Gold-Medal Tie; Nic Fink Also Lowers 50 Breast AR"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved December 20, 2021. For the semifinals of the 100 meter freestyle Held swam a 46.36, ranked fourth, and qualified for the final. FINA (December 20, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinals Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 20, 2021. In the final the following day, which was the final day of competition, Held won the silver medal with a personal best time of 45.63 seconds. FINA (December 21, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.OlympicTalk (December 21, 2021)
"U.S. swimmers win more individual folds, finish short course worlds atop standings"
''

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

''. Retrieved January 7, 2022. On the freestyle leg of the 4×100 meter medley relay in the final, Held split a 45.43 to help achieve a time of 3:20.50 and a silver-medal-win. FINA (December 21, 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.Sagendorph, Kyle (December 21, 2021)
"U.S. Wraps with 30 Medals, Team of the Meet Honors at 2021 FINA World Championships (25m)"
'' USA Swimming''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.

2022

On April 2, at the 2022 Pro Swim Series at

Northside Swim Center Northside Swim Center is a swimming pool complex located in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The center opened in 2013 and serves the local community as well as hosting larger, national, and international scale events. In addition to outdoor ...

in San Antonio, Texas, Held tied

Drew Kibler Drew Kibler (born March 9, 2000) is an American competition swimmer specializing in freestyle events. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay and a former American record holder in the 4×200 yard freestyle ...

for third in rank in the prelims heats of the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 49.46 seconds and qualified for the final later in the day.Hamann, Michael (April 2, 2022)
"Pro Swim Series- San Antonio: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved April 2, 2022. He swam a 49.20 in the final to place third, finishing seven-hundredths of a second behind first-place finisher Andrej Barna.Harder, Matthew (April 2, 2022)
"Pro Swim Series – San Antonio: Day 4 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

2022 International Team Trials

Day one of the 2022 US International Team Trials in late April in Greensboro, North Carolina, Held qualified for the final of the 100 meter freestyle ranking second from the prelims heats with a time of 48.20 seconds. USA Swimming (April 26, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved April 26, 2022. He placed third in the final with a time of 48.18 seconds, qualifying for the

team in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay. USA Swimming (April 26, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved April 26, 2022. Day two, he qualified for the b-final of the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 1:48.93 and overall rank of 15th in the prelims heats. USA Swimming (April 27, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved April 27, 2022. In the b-final, he lowered his time to a 1:47.99 to place third, 11th overall. USA Swimming (April 27, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved April 27, 2022. In the 50 meter freestyle prelims heats on the morning of the fifth and final day, he ranked fourth with a 21.92 and qualified for the final. USA Swimming (April 30, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved April 30, 2022. He swam a personal best time of 21.85 seconds in the final to take fourth-place. USA Swimming (April 30, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

2022 World Aquatics Championships

On the first day of

swimming at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships Swimming at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships took place from 18 to 25 June 2022. The United States won the most gold medals (17) and overall medal count (45) in this discipline. Katie Ledecky of the United States and Léon Marchand of Fra ...

, Held split a 47.13 for the second leg of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay in the prelims heats, the fastest out of him and his prelims relay teammates, helping qualify the relay to the final ranking first and securing his spot on the finals relay with his split time. FINA (June 18, 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved June 18, 2022. In the final later the same day, he split the fastest out of him and his finals relay teammates with a 46.99 on the second leg of the relay, helping achieve a gold medal victory in a final time of 3:09.34. FINA (June 18, 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved June 18, 2022. On day seven, he split a 47.85 in the preliminaries of the 4×100 meter mixed freestyle relay, helping qualify the relay to the final ranking first. FINA (June 24, 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved June 24, 2022. In the final, he split a 47.93 for the lead-off leg, helping win the bronze medal in a time of 3:21.09. FINA (June 24, 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved June 24, 2022. Associated Press (June 24, 2022)
"Australia sets world record in mixed 4x100 freestyle final"
'' The Washington Post''. Retrieved June 24, 2022. For the 4×100 metre medley relay, Held split a 47.36 for the freestyle leg of the relay in the final to help win the silver medal in 3:27.79. FINA (June 25, 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved June 26, 2022. Following the Championships, Held was announced to the USA Swimming roster for the 2022 Duel in the Pool, which was held starting August 19 in

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

."2022 Duel in the Pool - U.S. Roster"
'' USA Swimming''. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.

Personal bests

r = relay lead-off

Continental and national records

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course meters (25 m pool)

Masters world records

Short course meters (25 m pool)

Awards and honors

* '' Swimming World'', Top 12 Masters Swimmers of the Year: 2021Lohn, John (April 6, 2022)
"Swimming World's Masters Swimmers of the Year: The Top-12 For 2021"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved April 6, 2022. * Swimming World, The Week That Was: November 1, 2021 (#2) * ''

'' Top 100 (Men's): 2021 (#62),Gibbs, Robert (January 28, 2021)
"SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2021: Men's #75 — #51"
''

''. Retrieved October 11, 2021. 2022 (#90)Sutherland, James (January 6, 2022)
"SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Men's #100-76"
''

''. Retrieved January 6, 2022. * Golden Goggle Award, Relay Performance of the Year: 2016 ( 4×100 meter freestyle relay)

Personal life

In October 2021, Held publicly announced his engagement to Lexie Lupton, who he trained with during part of his time competing collegiately for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

.Carlson, Reid (October 11, 2021)
"Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Held Gets Engaged To NC State Swim Alum Lexie Lupton"
''

''. Retrieved October 11, 2021.McDougall, Chrös (October 11, 2021)
"Olympic Champion Swimmer Ryan Held Proposes To Girlfriend Lexie Lupton"
''TeamUSA.org''. Retrieved October 11, 2021. Held then married Lupton in December 2022.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Held, Ryan 1995 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics NC State Wolfpack men's swimmers Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming

Background

Career

2016 Summer Olympics

2018 World Championships

2019

2021 World Championships

2022

2022 International Team Trials

2022 World Aquatics Championships

Personal bests

Continental and national records

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course meters (25 m pool)

Masters world records

Short course meters (25 m pool)

Awards and honors

Personal life

See also

References

External links