Stewart McSweyn (born 1 June 1995) is an Australian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. He competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and managed to qualify for the Men's 1500m final. He came third in his heat with a time of 3:36.39 and qualified for the semifinals. Here he came fifth with a time of 3:32.54. This time was good enough for him to qualify for the final. His time of 3:31.91 earned him seventh place. McSweyn also represented his country in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

at the 2017 World Championships. In April 2018, he represented Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. He came 5th in the 5000m final and 11th in the 10,000m final. He was the first Australian in both events.

Early years

McSweyn, grew up on a beef and sheep farm on

King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to: Australia * King Island (Queensland) * King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland * King Island (Tasmania) ** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...

(population 1600) in the middle of

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

, south of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. There was no high school on the island and he boarded at

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

in Victoria. Being away from home at a young age, he built resilience which helps him cope with being overseas for lengthy periods of time. Up until he was 14 years old he played cricket, tennis and AFL, but then decided to concentrate on athletics. At Ballarat he was coached by Rod Griffin, distance runner

Collis Birmingham Collis Birmingham (born 27 December 1984) is an Australian middle- and long distance runner. He is a two-time participant at the Summer Olympics (2008 and 2012) and four-times at the World Championships in Athletics (2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015) ...

and his now training partner Brett Robinson. He represented Australia at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships in the junior race and in 2015 he ran the 5000m at the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

Professional career

In 2018, McSweyn placed third in both the 5000m and 3000m Steeplechase races at the Gold Coast Australian Championships in February. In April at the Commonwealth Games, McSweyn placed 5th in the 5000m final in 13:58.96 and 11th in the 10,000m final in 28:58.22 respectively. At the Shanghai Diamond League meet, McSweyn placed 11th in 13:31.97 in the 5000m. He followed up with a 28:05.37 10,000m race at the Oslo Bislett Games in June and a 3:34.82 1500m in Germany nine days later. McSweyn's next competition came at the Rabat Diamond League, where he placed third in a competitive 3000m field in 7:34.79. The time put him within two and a half seconds of Craig Mottram's Australian record in the event. He then raced in the London Müller Anniversary Games 5000m, finishing 12th in 13:20.21. In August, McSweyn raced a mile at the Birmingham Müller Grand Prix, winning in 3:54.60. Five days later on August 23, he competed at the Rovereto Palio Città della Quercia in Italy, clocking 13:31.03 for 5000m. Eight days later at the Bruxelles Memorial van Damme Diamond League Final, McSweyn powered home to a 13:05.23 personal best over 5000m, finishing 12th in the race. On September 9, he competed at the Ostrava IAAF Continental Cup in the 3000m. McSweyn finished 4th in 8:02.01. McSweyn rounded out the year by winning his second straight Melbourne Zatopek:10. His 27:50.89 brought him his second straight Australian National Championship over 10,000m. On Dec 14 2019, McSweyn broke the Australian record for 10,000m, running 27:23.80 at the Zatopek:10, his third successive national championship at the distance. On July 2, 2021, McSweyn broke the Australian record for the

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

, running 3:48.37, beating the record set by Craig Mottram in 2005 by 0.61 seconds.

International competitions

Personal bests

;Track *

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

– 3:29.51 (Monaco Diamond League, 2021) * One mile – 3:48.37 (Oslo Diamond League, 2021) *

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

– 7:28.02 (

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pie ...

, Rome 2020) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

– 12:56.50 (Brussels 2022) *

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

– 27:23.38 (Zatopek 2019) *

– 8:34.25 (Gothenburg 2017) ;Road *

5K run The 5K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 5K road race, 5 km, or simply 5K, it is the shortest of the most common road running distances. It is usually distinguished from the 5000 met ...

– 13:53 (Carlsbad 2017) *

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

– 28:03 (Burnie 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McSweyn, Stewart 1995 births Living people Sportsmen from Tasmania Australian male long-distance runners Australian male steeplechase runners Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Australian Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people