Ryan Napoleon (born 26 May 1990) is an Australian freestyle swimmer and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

medallist.

Career

Youth Swimming

Napoleon won gold in the 4×200m freestyle relay, silver in the 4×100m medley relay and bronze in the 100m butterfly whilst representing Australia at the Youth Olympic Festival. At the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, Napoleon won gold in the 200m freestyle, 4×100m freestyle, 4×200m freestyle, 4×100m medley relays as well as silver in the 100m freestyle. During the 2008 Oceania Swimming Championships held in Christchurch, New Zealand, Napoleon won gold in the 4×200m relay and bronze in the 200m butterfly. Napoleon won the national 1500m title and became the sixth fastest Australian of all time at the 2009 Australian Swimming Championships.

2009 World Championships

At the 2009 World Championships, Napoleon placed 11th in the 1500m freestyle, 12th in the 800m freestyle, and 21st in the 400m freestyle.

2010 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships

At the 2010 Australian Championships Napoleon won silver medals in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events.

2010 Pan Pacific Championships and Commonwealth Games

Napoleon placed 9th in the 1500m, and was ranked 6th in the 400m freestyle at the

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

Napoleon won silver in the 400m freestyle in a time of 3.48.59, and gold as part of the 4×200m freestyle relay team.

2011 Trials and Australian Swimming Championships

At the 2011 Australian Swimming Championships, he won the 400m freestyle in a time of 3:45.16, making him the 4th fastest Australian 1500m swimmer of all time, behind Olympic Champions

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

Grant Hackett Grant George Hackett OAM (born 9 May 1980) is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to ...

and Kieren Perkins

2011 World Championships

In what could be described as an unlucky meet for Napoleon, he finished in 13th place for both the men's 400m and 800m freestyle.

2012 Olympic Trials and Australian Swimming Championships

Napoleon secured his place in his maiden Olympic team when he earned 2nd place in the men's 400m freestyle at the

2012 Australian Swimming Championships The 2012 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 15 March until 22 March 2012 at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. They double up as the national trials for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Qualificat ...

. In both the heat and semi-finals of this event, Napoleon was to race against Australian swimming champion,

who was making a comeback to swimming via this event. Despite both races receiving a high degree of media attention, Napoleon did not let this unnerve him. He swam impressively in his heat to become the top qualifier and later placed first in his semi-final race. To further cement Napoleon's Olympic dream, he placed 5th in perhaps what is the most competitive of the men's events, the 200m freestyle. This earned him a spot in the men's 4×200m relay team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. At the Olympics, he finished 8th in the 400m freestyle, and was part of the Australian team that finished 5th in the freestyle.

Doping ban

After Napoleon qualified to contest the 400m and 1500m freestyle at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, swimming governing body FINA imposed a three-month doping ban on him due to a failed drug test taken in November 2009. Although FINA accepted an innocent mistake was made when Napoleon took incorrectly labelled asthma medication, it was decided that he would be ineligible for three months after the violation with the suspension commencing on 20 August 2010, meaning that he was unable to train with his squad and would be unable to compete in the Games. Napoleon appealed the decision made by FINA to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) resulting in the ban being backdated to 15 June 2010. Although he had missed out on vital training and preparation, Napoleon was then eligible to compete in Delhi where he claimed silver in the 400m freestyle and gold in the 4×200m relay.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Napoleon, Ryan 1990 births Living people Australian male freestyle swimmers Swimmers from Sydney Olympic swimmers of Australia Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for Australia Universiade bronze medalists for Australia Doping cases in Australian swimming Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games