Jump to content

Joel Thomas (swimmer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joel Thomas
Personal information
Full nameJoel Ladd Thomas
National team United States
Born (1966-12-13) December 13, 1966 (age 57)
Pasadena, California
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight229 lb (104 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
College teamUniversity of California, Berkeley
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona 4x100 m freestyle
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana 4x100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1991 Havana 100 m freestyle
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1987 Zagreb 4x100 m freestyle

Joel Ladd Thomas (born December 13, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer and Water Polo player for the University of California at Berkeley and a 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

Thomas attended John Muir High School. He was honored with a selection as a second team All-League Water Polo player while competing for John Muir in January 1983.[1] In the Pacific League finals in May 1984, swimming for John Muir, Thomas set a league record in the 100-yard freestyle of 47.47. He would lower his times and remain an accomplished sprinter throughout his swimming career.[2]

U. Cal Berkeley[edit]

Thomas attended and swam for U Cal Berkeley, where he also played water polo as he had at John Muir High School. He helped the team win 1987 and 1988 NCAA Water Polo titles.[3] Swimming for Cal Berkeley, Thomas won the 100 freestyle competition at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships in the Spring of both 1988, and in March of 1989, where he swam a 43.68 in Long Beach, California, leading Berkeley to a third-place finish behind powerful Stanford, and second place UCLA.[4]

Thomas tried out for the U.S. Olympic team in the 1988 Olympic Trials in Austin, Texas. Swimming in the 100-meter freestyle, he set a time of a 50.69 in the preliminaries, finishing in 12th place and did not make the finals, as the top finishers were swimming under 50 seconds.[5] He also tried out for the 50-meter freestyle event, but swam a 23.74, placing 44th.[6]

Thomas swam for the U.S. National team between 1987-1992.[7] His singularly most impressive achievement in swimming is likely his win in the US Open on December 2, 1990 against Matt Biondi in the 100-meter freestyle, where he set a time of 50.46. Thomas was training with Coach Jack Nelson's Fort Lauderdale Swim Club in Fort Lauderdale at the time.[3][8] In December, 1990, while swimming the 200-yard freestyle event, Thomas also set a new 100-yard freestyle record of 43.77 at the Hall of Fame Trophy Meet in Fort Lauderdale, breaking the 15-year old record of Andy Coan set in 1975.[9] Thomas led the U.S. National Team in a meet against University of Tennessee in Knoxville winning the 100-yard freestyle in 50.89, though it was not his fastest time that year, anchoring the winning 400-meter medley relay team, and leading off the winning 400-meter freestyle relay team.[10]

Pan Am Games[edit]

At the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, Thomas won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay. Individually, he also received a silver medal for finishing second in the 100-meter freestyle event. In the 1987 Universiade in Zagreb, he won a gold medal swimming on the 4x100-meter freestyle relay team.[3]

1992 Olympics[edit]

Thomas represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.[11] He received a gold medal for swimming for the first-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Whipple Given MVP", Monrovia News-Post, Monrovia, California, 2 January 1983, pg. 5
  2. ^ "Arcadia Dominates League Swim Finals", Monrovia News Post, Monrovia, California, 10 May 1984, pg. 13
  3. ^ a b c {{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51587%7Ctitle=Olympedia, Joel Thomas|website=Olympedia.com|access-date=9 June 1924
  4. ^ "Stanford's Swim Depth Surfaces", The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, California, 12 March 1989, pg. 26
  5. ^ "Swimming, U.S. Olympic Trials", The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 11 August 1988, pg. 20
  6. ^ "Swimming, U.S. Olympic Trials", Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 13 August 1988, pg. 68
  7. ^ {{cite web|url=https://olympics.com/en/athletes/joel-thomas%7Ctitle=Olympics.com, Joel Thomas Biography|website=Olympics.com|access-date=9 June 2024
  8. ^ "Swimmer's Sacrifices Paying Off", The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, 4 December 1990, pg. 40
  9. ^ Rob, Sharon, "Pair of Coan Marks Fall After 15 Years," South Florida Sun Sentinel, 10 December 1990, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pg. 30
  10. ^ "Pace, Thomas Win For U.S. National Team", South Florida Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 16 December 1990, pg. 51
  11. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Joel Thomas Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  12. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, United States Swimming at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 31, 2012.

External links[edit]

  • Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Joel Thomas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24.


Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This biographical article related to a United States swimmer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joel_Thomas_(swimmer)&oldid=1228183436"