Moss James Burmester (born 19 June 1981) is a New Zealand

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and diver. His specialist event is the 200m butterfly in which he holds the Commonwealth record of 1:54.35 set at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Burmester was born in

Hastings, New Zealand Hastings (; mi, Heretaunga) is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings (including Flaxmere) is (as of with a further people in ...

. He grew up in

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

and received his education at

Otumoetai College Otumoetai College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Tauranga, New Zealand. The school opened in February 1965 with 206 students from years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) to serve the western suburbs of Tauranga. ''Otumoetai'' is cla ...

. His career highlights in the 200m butterfly are 4th at the 2008 Olympics and gold medallist 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 ...

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 metro ...

where he set a Commonwealth Games record of 1:56.64. He was the bronze medallist in the 100m butterfly at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with a time of 52.73 and set a New Zealand record of 52.37 when qualifying for New Zealand's 2008 Olympic team. After he retired from swimming, he became an unassisted diver.

Career highlights

2008 Olympics

In the 200m butterfly final, Burmester led for the first 50m, slipped to second behind

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold med ...

for the middle 100m and finished 4th equal, setting a Commonwealth record of 1:54.35.

2006 Commonwealth Games

*1st: 200 m

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...

(1:56.64 – Games record) *3rd: 100 m

(52.73)

2004 Olympic Games

*28th 400 m

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Lab ...

(3:57.29) *28th 1500 m

(15:56.42) *12th: 200 m

(1:58.09)

2002 Commonwealth Games

*18th: 100 m

(53.21) *16th: 50 m

(25.50) *9th: 100 m

(54.96) *4th: 200 m

(1:59.94)

References

External links

Moss Burmester's official website

Moss Burmester
SPARC (Sport & Recreation New Zealand)
Moss takes first gold medal
* * * * * * 1981 births Living people New Zealand male swimmers Male butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers of New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Hastings, New Zealand Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming People educated at Otumoetai College {{NewZealand-swimming-bio-stub