Richard "Ricky" Berens (born April 21, 1988) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course). He competed in the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay events, as well as the individual 200-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early years

Berens was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. After graduating from South Mecklenburg High School, he attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

, and swam for coach Eddie Reese's

Texas Longhorns swimming and diving The Texas Longhorns swimming and diving program represents The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's and women's swimming and diving competition. The Longhorns currently compete in the Big 12 Conference. The fir ...

team 2007 to 2010. During his collegiate career at Texas, Berens was a 20-time All-American, member of two NCAA champion relay teams, and key contributor to the Longhorns 2010 NCAA team title. He graduated from the University of Texas with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in finance in 2010, and relocated to Los Angeles shortly thereafter to train with coach Dave Salo at Trojan Aquatics.

International career

At the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

, Berens won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay, and silver medals in both the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×200-meter freestyle relays. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Berens won the gold medal in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay with

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 ...

, Ryan Lochte, and

Peter Vanderkaay Peter William Vanderkaay (born February 12, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events and is a four-time Olympic medalist. He was a member of the United States Olympic team in 2004, 2008, ...

, setting a new world record of 6:58.56. Berens swam the third leg in a relay split time of 1:46.29. Berens was the only member of the finals team to swim in the preliminary heats, posting a time of 1:45.47, just faster than Klete Keller's 1:45.51, to be selected to swim in the final. Berens swam the third leg of the 4×100-meter freestyle preliminaries at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and earned a gold medal when the U.S. team placed first in the final. Berens also swam in both the preliminaries and final of the 4×200-meter freestyle, which won gold. In the final, Berens swam the second leg in 1:44.13, the second fastest split from anyone in the event. Berens was also a part of the winning U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay teams at the

2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The eleventh edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Irvine, California, United States, from August 18–22. M ...

and the 2011 World Championships. At the 2011 Duel in the Pool, a short course meet featuring the United States and European "All-Stars", Berens won both the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events. At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Berens made his second Olympic team by finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle and third in the 200-meter freestyle, qualifying him to swim in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, respectively. Although Berens did not qualify to swim in any individual events, Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps's coach, revealed on Twitter that Phelps, who came in first in the 200-meter freestyle, would be scratching the race from his Olympic program, giving the third place Berens a chance to swim his first individual Olympic event. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Berens again won a gold medal in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with Ryan Lochte,

Conor Dwyer Conor James Dwyer (born January 10, 1989) is a former American competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He competed in freestyle and medley events, and won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team a ...

and

. Berens swam the third leg for the U.S. team in 1:45.27. He also won a silver medal as part of the second-place U.S. team for the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, in which he swam the third leg of the heat in 48.52. After the final of the 4×200-meter event, Berens stated that he would retire from competitive swimming following the Olympics. After seven weeks, Berens came out of retirement and returned to the swimming stage. At the 2013 American Short Course Championships, he broke the American record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:31.31), taking his split from the 500-yard freestyle. At the 2013 United States National Championships, Berens finished 5th place in both the 100-meter freestyle and the 200-meter freestyle, qualifying him to swim in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay and 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay. At the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Berens combined with

, Ryan Lochte and

Charlie Houchin Charles Houchin (born November 3, 1987) is an American former competition swimmer who has had his greatest international success in freestyle relay events. He earned a gold medal as a member of the winning United States team in the 4×200-meter ...

in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, with the team finishing in first place for the gold medal. Swimming the anchor leg, Berens recorded a split of 1:45.39, and the team finished with a final time of 7:01.72. In November 2013, Berens retired for a second time.

Sponsorships and media coverage

In 2008, Berens was interviewed on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'' in Beijing after winning gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In 2009 he made an appearance on ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'', poking fun at himself after a swimsuit malfunction at the 2009 World Championships. In 2011, Berens (alongside his dog) was featured in a print advertisement for

Eukanuba Eukanuba ( ) is the brand name of dog food and cat food, owned and manufactured by Mars, Incorporated worldwide and by Spectrum Brands in European markets; previously handled by Procter & Gamble from 1999 through 2014. The company produces 1 ...

that ran in '' Men's Journal'' magazine. Berens was also featured in a print advertisement for a

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. I ...

watch, which ran in the December 2011 issue of '' Details'' magazine. Berens was sponsored by TYR Swimwear and by BMW's Pro Performance Team. He also appeared in the "

Got Milk? Got Milk? (stylized as got milk?) is an American advertising campaign encouraging the consumption of milk and dairy products. Created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993, it ...

" chocolate milk campaign. Berens is represented by Octagon.

References

External links

* * * * *
Ricky Berens
– University of Texas athlete profile at TexasSports.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berens, Ricky 1988 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina Swimmers at the 2007 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Texas Longhorns men's swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record holders in swimming Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Swimmers from North Carolina

Early years

International career

Sponsorships and media coverage

See also

References

External links