star sport: BRENDAN HANSEN

Brendan Joseph Hansen (born August 15, 1981) is a former American swimmer who specialized in the breaststroke. He is a four-time Olympic medalist.Hansen was born and grew up in Havertown, a suburb about 10 minutes away from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Haverford Senior High School. He swam for many different clubs, including Karakung Swim Club. His main stroke is breaststroke. Hansen's well-known for his unique style of breaststroke, which incorporates a kick that is much narrower than the other swimmers, including his biggest rival, Kosuke Kitajima, who has consistently defeated Hansen. At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Hansen won the 200 m breaststroke with a time of 2:10.69 , a championship record. At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Hansen won gold in the 4×100 m medley relay, silver in the 100 m breaststroke, and bronze in the 200 m breaststroke. In his first event, the 100 m breaststroke, Hansen finished second to Kosuke Kitajima with a time of 1:00.21. In his second event, the 200 m breaststroke, Hansen finished in third place with a time 2:11.11. In the 4×100 m medley relay, Hansen swam his leg with a time of 59.61 and the American squad finished first with a world record time of 3:31.54.

Despite setting the world record in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke at the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials, Hansen did not manage to win a gold medal in either event at the 2004 Summer Olympics, as he settled for silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. He would win a gold for his role in the world-record setting 4x100 medley relay. His split on the relay turned out to be one of the fastest in history. There was controversy in Kosuke Kitajima's win in the 100 m breaststroke. The underwater cameras revealed what look like to be an illegal dolphin kick at the start, which could have made the difference in the race. However, the dolphin kick went undetected by race officials, so the US Team could not lodge a protest.At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Hansen won gold in the 100 m breaststroke, 200 m breaststroke, and 4×100 m medley relay. In his first event, the 100 m breaststroke, Hansen won with a time of 59.37, a championship record. In his second event, the 200 m breaststroke, Hansen won with a time of 2:09.85. In the 4×100 m medley relay, Hansen swam his leg with a time of 59.33 and the American squad finished first with a time of 3:31.85. At the 2006 ConocoPhillips National Championships, Hansen lowered both his world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke to 59.13 in the 100 m and 2:08.74 in the 200 m. At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships held in Victoria, Canada, Hansen again lowered his world record time in the 200 m breaststroke to 2:08.50. It is notable that he was a quarter of a second behind his best time at the 150 m mark, but he came back 0.6 second faster with a 33.38. At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Hansen won gold in the 100 m breaststroke and silver in the 50 m breaststroke. Hansen also was entered in the 200 m breaststroke but did not start. In the 100 m breaststroke, Hansen won with a time of 59.80, 0.16 faster than second place finisher Kosuke Kitajima. In the 50 m breaststroke, Hansen place second with a time of 27.69, just 0.03 slower than first place finisher Oleg Lisogor.Hansen swam the 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, his only individual event, finishing in fourth place but earned a gold medal for his part in the 4x100 medley relay.He lost the medal while on a flight home from a party in his hometown near Philadelphia to Austin. It was returned to him the following day.