Dominik Koll

Dominik Koll
Personal information
National team Austria
Born (1984-12-24) 24 December 1984 (age 39)
Linz, Austria
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubSK VÖEST Linz
College teamColumbia University (U.S.)
CoachJim Bolster (U.S.)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Austria
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Eindhoven 4×200 m freestyle

Dominik Koll (born 24 December 1984) is an Austrian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian, a 41-time national titleholder, and a 5-time long and short course Austrian record holder. Koll is a member of the swimming team for SK VÖEST Linz. He won a bronze medal, as a member of the Austrian swimming team, at the 2008 European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands.[2] Koll is one of few LGBT Olympians to come out as gay.[3]

Swimming career

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Koll made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, competing in the men's 200 m freestyle. Koll cruised to fourth place in his heat and twenty-fifth overall by 0.53 of a second behind Latvia's Romāns Miloslavskis in 1:51.36.[4][5]

Four years after competing in his first Olympics, Koll qualified for his second Austrian team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As a 23-year old, he swam a FINA A-cut time of 1:48.21 at the European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands.[6][7] At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Koll set a new Austrian mark in the 200 m freestyle and recorded the sixteenth fastest time of 1:47.81 on the second night of preliminaries to secure the final spot in the semifinals.[8][9] The following morning, Koll failed to qualify for the final, as he finished his semifinal run with a fourth-slowest time of 1:47.87, just 0.06 of a second off his record from the preliminaries.[10]

Two days later, Koll swam the start-off leg of the men's 4×200 m freestyle relay, recording his individual-split time of 1:47.72. Koll and his teammates David Brandl, Markus Rogan, and Florian Janistyn finished the second heat in fifth place and ninth overall, for another national record-breaking time of 7:11.45.[11]

Shortly after the Olympics, Koll set another national record in the 400 m freestyle at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships, with a time of 3:39.82. The following year, he posted his fifth-career Austrian record time of 1:43.90 by finishing eighth in the preliminary heats of the men's 200 m freestyle at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.[12]

Koll is a current member of the swimming team for Columbia Lions, and a film and economics major at Columbia University in New York, New York.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Dominik Koll". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Bronze strahlte heller als Gold" [Bronze shining brighter than gold] (in German). Wiener Zeitung. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  3. ^ Coming-Out des österreichischen Schwimmers und EM-Medaillengewinner Dominik Koll
  4. ^ "Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 5". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. ^ Thomas, Stephen (15 August 2004). "Men's 200 Freestyle Prelims: Thorpe Fastest in 1:47.22; Hoogie, Keller, Phelps and Hackett All in the Mix". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Men's 200m Freestyle" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 12. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  7. ^ "2008 LEN European Aquatics Championships (Eindhoven, Netherlands) – Men's 4×200m Freestyle Final" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 8". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  9. ^ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry Tops Men's 200 Free Field". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Men's 200m Freestyle Semifinal 1". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  11. ^ "Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay Heat 2". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  12. ^ "European Short Course Swimming Championships (Istanbul 2009) – Men's 200m Freestyle" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  13. ^ Wong, Eric (28 February 2012). "A new perspective on swimming for former Olympian". Columbia Spectator. Columbia University. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
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