Michael Klim: Australia's Swimming Champion
Australian swimming Champion Michael Klim, is considered by many to be one of the most talented and skilled athletes in the world. His amazing swimming career has given him many awards and accolades over the years. Klim has represented Australia in the world’s
swimming arena with tremendous skill and a fierce competitive spirit.
Klim was born on 13 August, 1977 and was selected for the first time to represent Australia at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria. He earned his first international medal at the 1995 World Championships, where he won a gold medal in the 4*200m freestyle
relay, two silver medals in the 4*100m freestyle and 4*100m medley relay events and a bronze medal in 200m freestyle.
The Australian won a bronze medal in the 4*100m medley relay at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the 1997 World championships, he won two gold medals in the 4*100m medley relay and the 4*200m freestyle relay and three bronze medals in the 4*100m freestyle relay,
100m butterfly and 100m freestyle events.
Klim also won two gold medals in the 100m freestyle and the 200m freestyle and four silver medals in the 100m butterfly, 4*100m medley relay, 4*100m freestyle relay and the 4*200m freestyle relay in the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships.
He again represented Australia in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where he successfully grabbed four gold medals in the 100m freestyle, 4*100m freestyle relay, 4*200m freestyle and 4*100m medley relay. Klim also won a silver medal in the 200m freestyle and
two bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and the 100m butterfly respectively.
The Australian swimmer won four gold medals in the 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 4*200m freestyle relay and the 4*100m medley relay the 1998 World Championships.
1999 was a year full of achievements for Klim, as first he won four gold medals and a silver medal in the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 4*100m freestyle relay, 4*200m freestyle relay and the 200m freestyle respectively in the Pan Pacific Championships
Later on that year at the World Short Course Championships and at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he won two gold medals being a part of the Australian freestyle relay teams, and two silver medals in the 100m butterfly and 4*100m medley relay. Klim set a world
record for finishing 100m freestyle in 48.18, leading off the 4*100m freestyle Australian relay team.
His performance elevated in 2001, as he won three gold medals and a silver medal in the 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4*100m freestyle and 50m butterfly respectively in Goodwill Games. Klim also managed to win two gold medals in both freestyle relays at
World Championships.
His performance began to deteriorate in 2004 at the Athens Olympics he hardly managed to secure a spot in the 4*200m freestyle relay team which won a silver medal in that event. Klim’s poor performance continued in 2005, where secured a spot in the 4*100m
freestyle relay team, which managed to win a bronze medal in the World Championships.
During the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, the Australian champion won a gold medal in the 4*100m medley relay, two silver medals in the 100m butterfly and 4*100m freestyle and a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly.
Klim won his last gold medal in the 4*100m medley relay at the 2007 Melbourne World Championships and he retired on the same year as a world champion.
Now, in February 2011, Klim has announced his come-back to competitive swimming with the aim of being selected into the Australian swimming team for the 2012 London Olympics. It will be interesting to see if Klim will be able to compete at this level and
get back to his winning ways.
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