Celebrity Featured: Michael Klim
Artist: Christine Glynne
About Michael Klim
Born in Poland in 1977, Michael Klim was first selected to represent Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada in 1994. In 1996, he arrived at the Atlanta Olympics ranked first in the world for the 200 m freestyle, but was surprisingly eliminated in the heats. He rebounded to qualify for a finals position in the 100 m butterfly, and swam the freestyle leg in the 4x100 m medley relay, in which Australia claimed a bronze medal.
After winning the 200m freestyle, team relays and 100m butterfly at the World Champions in Perth 1998, Klim was named Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine.
In 2000, at the Sydney Olympics, Klim set a world record leading off the 4x100m freestyle relay record which was the first time that the United States had ever been defeated in the blue-ribbon relay. Three days later, he was part of the 4x200m freestyle relay, which set another world record leaving the opposition over 5 seconds in arrears on its way to victory.
In 2001, hampered by an ankle injury, Klim was restricted to relay duties, and contributed to another world record, winning gold in the 4x200m relay, also collecting a gold medal in the 4x100 m freestyle relay.
In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, he returned to relay duties after suffering chronic back and shoulder problems, collecting a silver in the 4x200 m relay. Then in 2005, he swam at the World Championships in Montreal, in the 100 m freestyle, winning bronze as part of the 4x100 m freestyle relay. On the 26th of June 2007, after an illustrious career, Michael Klim announced his retirement from swimming.