Thomas Michael Jager (born October 6, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer. He is five-time Olympic gold medalist in relay events, a two-time

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, ...

individual gold medalist for the 50-meter freestyle, and a former world record-holder in two events. Jager set the 50-meter freestyle world record on six occasions during his career. He held this record for over ten years from August 1989 to June 2000.

Swimming career

Jager attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA), and swam for coach

Ron Ballatore Ron "Stix" Ballatore (1941 – April 27, 2012) was an American college and international swimming coach. From 1978 to 1994, Ballatore was the head coach of the men's swimming and diving team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA ...

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

swimming and diving team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) competition from 1983 to 1985. He won NCAA individual national championships in the 100-yard freestyle (1983, 1984), the 50-yard freestyle (1984, 1985), and the 100-yard backstroke (1985). In 1984, he was honored as the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

Swimmer of the Year. He was also an eleven-time United States national open champion. Jager won seven Olympic medals for the United States. He won five gold medals in

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

events. He also won an individual silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and an individual bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. At the

World Championships 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, ...

, Jager won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle in 1986 and 1991. He also won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle at the

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 2001.

Coaching career

In 2004, Jager became the head coach of the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of Idaho, located in Moscow. The Vandals compete at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The football team was an independent for th ...

women's swim team.Jager bio
from the Idaho Vandals website. Retrieved June 19, 2009. Jager then accepted the head coaching position for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

swim team at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

in 2011. He is now the head coach of the Aspen Swim club in Colorado.

Family

Tom is the youngest of a family of swimming siblings. While under a swimming scholarship at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, his eldest sister Diane was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n swimmer. His brother Bill qualified for Nationals while in high school and then went on to earn a full swimming scholarship at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. All three siblings went on to work as swimming coaches. Tom has two sons, Wyatt (born 1996) and Cy (born 1999), both of whom swim for his swimming club, the Gold Medal Swim Club.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jager, Tom 1964 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers American swimming coaches Idaho Vandals swimming coaches Washington State Cougars swimming coaches World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from East St. Louis, Illinois Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1995 Pan American Games UCLA Bruins men's swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century American people 21st-century American people

Swimming career

Coaching career

Family

See also

References

External links