Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Douglas Seneca Gjertsen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | "Doug" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Phillipsburg, New Jersey |
July 31, 1967 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Douglas Seneca Gjertsen (born July 31, 1969) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
Gjertsen was the third member of the record-setting U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The American team of Troy Dalbey, Matt Cetlinski, Gjertsen and Matt Biondi set a new world record with a time of 7:12.51. He also received a bronze medal for swimming for the third-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Four years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, he was the fourth member of the third-place U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay; the American team of Joe Hudepohl, Mel Stewart, Jon Olsen and Gjertsen won the bronze medal with a time of 7:16.23. Individually, he finished eighth in the final of the men's 200-meter freestyle, recording a time of 1:50.57.
He attended the University of Texas at Austin, and swam for coach Eddie Reese's Texas Longhorns swimming and diving team. He was a three-time individual NCAA champion and a nine-time relay NCAA champion. He was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in September 2006.