Ratapong Sirisanont

Ratapong Sirisanont

Personal information
Nickname(s)	Nuk
National team	Thailand
Born	(1976-07-01) 1 July 1976 (age 40) Bangkok, Thailand
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, breaststroke, medley
Club	Bolles School Sharks (U.S.)
College team	University of California, Berkeley (U.S.)
Coach	Nort Thornton (U.S.)
Medal record Men's swimming Representing Thailand Asian Games 1994 Hiroshima 200 m medley 1994 Hiroshima 400 m medley 1998 Bangkok 200 m breaststroke 1994 Hiroshima 200 m breaststroke 1998 Bangkok 400 m medley 2002 Busan 200 m breaststroke Southeast Asian Games 2003 Hanoi 100 m breaststroke 2003 Hanoi 200 m breaststroke 2003 Hanoi 200 m medley 2003 Hanoi 400 m medley

Ratapong "Nuk" Sirisanont (Thai: รัฐพงศ์ ศิริสานนท์; born July 1, 1976) is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke, but also competed in long-distance freestyle and individual medley. He is a four-time Olympian (1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004), a three-time Asian Games participant (1994, 1998, and 2002), and a seven-time SEA Games athlete (1991–2003). Regarded as Thailand's top swimmer, he has won a total of sixteen medals at the Southeast Asian Games since 1995, and six at the Asian Games, including two golds in the 200 and 400 m individual medley. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sirisanont became the first Thai swimmer to reach the final twice (both 200 and 400 m individual medley). Sirisanont is also one of three Southeast Asian swimmers, along with Malaysia's Alex Lim and Philippines' Miguel Molina, to train for the California Golden Bears in the United States, under head coach Nort Thornton.

Sirisanont began swimming at age seven, despite that he did not like the sport much at first. Admittedly, he had some breathing problems while jumping off into the water. In 1991, Sirisanont was selected to the Thai national team at his first Southeast Asian Games in Manila, where he won six medals (four golds and two bronze). His name was reached towards an early sport popularity, when he broke SEA Games records in three different events.

Sirisanont made his first Thai team, as a sixteen-year-old teen, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He was ranked about the "middle of the road" in his individual events, finishing twenty-seventh in the 1500 m freestyle (16:08.02), twenty-ninth in the 400 m individual medley (4:37.95), and thirty-ninth each in the 400 m freestyle (4:07.95) and 200 m individual medley (2:11.02).

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