From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Michael "Tom" Jager (born October 6, 1964 in Collinsville, Illinois) is a USA Olympic and former World Record holding freestyle swimmer. He swam on the 1984-92 USA Olympic teams—where he earned four medals, including two golds—and held the World Record in the 50m free at 3 different times, and at one point for over 10 years (May 1990-June 2000). He is an 11-time U.S. national champion; and a 5-time NCAA champion.
[edit] Family
Tom is the youngest of a family of swimming siblings. While under a swimming scholarship at the University of Iowa, eldest sister Diane was an All-American swimmer. Brother Bill qualified for Nationals while in high school, then went on to earn a full swimming scholarship at the University of Illinois. All three siblings went on to work as swimming coaches during their lifetimes.
[edit] Swimming career
Jager ended his career at the 1996 Olympic Trials, where at the age of 31, he attempted to qualify for his fourth Olympic team. He was a leader in the world of swimming for post-graduates. He was the 1988 and 1992 Olympic team captain and the 1991 World Aquatics Championships team captain. Prior to the Barcelona Olympics, he faced off with legendary swimmer Mark Spitz who attempted to make a comeback. Jager beat Spitz with a time of 24.92 over Spitz's 26.70. Tom Jager won six state titles in Illinois at Collinsville High School, tied with fellow Olympian Ron Gora and Brian Alden for the most ever.
When he retired, he was the world record-holder in the 50m free, a record he set in a nationally-televised match race versus his career-long nemesis and friend Matt Biondi. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Jager was second to Biondi in the 50m free. In 1992, Jager was third and Biondi was second in the Olympic sprint. He and Biondi were the first two Americans to win gold medals in three Olympiads; both did it in the 400m free relay (in 1984, Jager swam on the prelim squad and in 1988 and ‘92, he swam on the championship finals teams). In 1984 and '88, he won gold medals swimming in prelims of the 400m medley relay.
In 2001 Jager was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.[1]
In 2004 he became the Head Coach of the University of Idaho women's swim team, where he still coaches today (June 2009).[2]
[edit] References
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Olympic Champions in Men's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay |
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1964: USA (Clark, Austin, Ilman, Schollander) | 1968: USA (Zorn, Rerych, Spitz, Walsh) | 1972: USA (Edgar, Murphy, Heidenreich, Spitz) | 1984: USA (Cavanaugh, Heath, Biondi, Gaines) | 1988: USA (Jacobs, Dalbey, Jager, Biondi) | 1992: USA (Hudepohl, Biondi, Jager, Olsen) | 1996: USA (Olsen, Davis, Schumacher, Hall, Jr.) | 2000: Australia (Klim, Fydler, Callus, Thorpe) | 2004: South Africa (Schoeman, Ferns, Townsend, Neethling) | 2008: USA (Phelps, Weber-Gale, Jones, Lezak)
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Pan American Champions in Men's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay |
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1967: United States (Walsh, Fitzmaurice, Spitz, Schollander) • 1971: United States (Edgar, Genter, Heidenreich, Heckl) • 1975: United States (Babashoff, Ruby, Grattan, Abbott) • 1979: United States (Gaines, Babashoff, Newton, McCagg) • 1983: United States (Leamy, Gribble, Cavanaugh, Gaines) • 1987: United States (Born, McCadam, Robinson, Dudley) • 1991: Brazil (Ferreira, Nascimento, Rebolal, Borges) • 1995: United States (Hall, Jager, Davis, Olsen) • 1999: Brazil (Scherer, Quintaes, Cordeiro, Borges) • 2003: Brazil (Jayme, Borges, Scherer, Souza) • 2007: Brazil (Silva, Deboni, Oliveira, Cielo)
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Pan Pacific Champions in Men's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay |
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1985: USA (McCadam, Heath, Wallace, Biondi) • 1987: USA (Jacobs, Oppel, Dalbey, Biondi) • 1989: USA (Lang, Olsen, Gjertsen, Jager) • 1991: USA (Jordan, Jager, Olsen, Biondi) • 1993: USA (Hudepohl, Pepper, Fox, Olsen) • 1995: USA (Fox, Hudepohl, Olsen, Hall) • 1997: USA (Tucker, Schumacher, Olsen, Walker) • 1999: AUS (Klim, English, Fydler, Thorpe) • 2002: AUS (Callus, Pearson, Hackett, Thorpe) • 2006: USA (Phelps, Walker, Jones, Lezak)
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United States
Dano Halsall
Alexander Popov
