Peter Vanderkaay

Peter Vanderkaay

Peter Vanderkaay
Personal information
Nickname(s)	PVK
Nationality	United States
Born	February 12, 1984 (1984-02-12) Royal Oak, MI, USA
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle
Club	Gator Swim Club
College team	Michigan Wolverines (2002–2006)
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2008 Beijing 4×200 m freestyle Bronze 2008 Beijing 200 m freestyle World Championships – Long Course Gold 2005 Montreal 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2007 Melbourne 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2009 Rome 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (SC) Silver 2010 Dubai 4×200 m freestyle Summer Universiade Silver 2003 Daegu 4×200 m freestyle Bronze 2003 Daegu 800 m freestyle Bronze 2003 Daegu 1500 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships Gold 2006 Victoria 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2010 Irvine 4×200 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Irvine 200 m freestyle

Peter Vanderkaay (born February 12, 1984) is an American middle-distance freestyle swimmer. He is a three-time Olympic medalist.

Personal life

Vanderkaay is originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan and attended Rochester Adams High School. He has three brothers, all of whom are competitive swimmers. His older brother Christian Vanderkaay swam for the University of Michigan and qualified for the 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Olympic trials. His younger brother Alex Vanderkaay qualified for the 2008 Olympic trials in several events, competing and making the finals in the 400 m individual medley, 200 m butterfly and the 200 m medley. His third and youngest brother, Dane Vanderkaay, also qualified for the 2008 US Olympic trials in the 400 m freestyle.

Career

High school and collegiate career

Peter Vanderkaay is a two-time Michigan High School State Champion in the 500-yard freestyle (2001, 2002), and is the 2001 state champion in the 200-yard freestyle. He graduated in the class of 2002, and swam for the The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Vanderkaay holds a total of six NCAA titles and 14 Big Ten Conference titles. He also won a silver and two bronze medals representing the US at the 2003 World University Games. In his freshman year in college, he was Big Ten Champion in the 500-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle relay. He also was NCAA All-American in the 500 and the mile.

By the end of his sophomore year, he won four more Big Ten titles in the 400-yard IM, 500-yard freestyle, 1,650 freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay. In short course metres, Vanderkaay also was the NCAA Champion in the 400 m free, the 1500 m free and the 800 m free relay, and placed fifth in the 200 m free.

In his junior year, Vanderkaay repeated his four Big Ten victories, and was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year. He was named All-American in the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard medley relay.

In his senior year at Michigan, he was the senior co-captain for the Michigan Wolverines. He won four more Big Ten titles, 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, 1650-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay, and one final NCAA title in the 500. Vanderkaay also placed second in both the 200 and 1650 yard freestyles at the NCAA meet.

International career

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Vanderkaay was a member of the 4×200 m freestyle relay team, along with Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Klete Keller, that beat the favored Australian team of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett, Michael Klim, and Nicholas Sprenger.

At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Vanderkaay won a gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. Along with Phelps, Lochte, and Keller, their time of 7:06.58 was an American record.

At the 2007 FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Vanderkaay again swam in the relay with Lochte, Phelps, Keller. They set a world record in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a time of 7:03.24.

In the summer of 2007, Vanderkaay posted a career performance at U.S. Nationals, beating Michael Phelps for first place in the 400 m freestyle. Vanderkaay also teamed up with Phelps, Davis Tarwater, Scott Spann, and Chris DeJong to win two more golds, one in the 4x100 m freestyle relay and another in the 4×100 m medley relay.

Vanderkaay won his first individual medal, a bronze, in the 200 m freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Vanderkaay was part of the 4×200 meter freestyle relay that set the world record as the American team finished first with a time of 6:58.56. The Americans were the first team to break the seven-minute mark in the relay, and broke the previous record, set in Melbourne by more than four and a half seconds.

Move to Gator Swim Club

On December 20, 2010, Vanderkaay announced that he would be moving leaving Ann Arbor and Club Wolverine, where he had trained for over 8 years, to move to Florida and train with the Gator Swim Club in Gainesville. The Gator Swim Club is coached by Gregg Troy, the coach of the National Team through the 2012 Olympics, and is home to many elite swimmers including Ryan Lochte.

External links

• USA Swimming athlete bio: Peter Vanderkaay