American swimmer
Cullen Andrew Jones (born February 29, 1984) is an American former[ 1] competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who specializes in freestyle sprint events. As part of the American team, he holds the world record in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay (long course). At the 2012 Summer Olympics , he won silver medals in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay and the 50-meter freestyle, as well as the gold in the 4 x 100-metre medley.
Childhood
Born on Leap day of 1984[ 2] in the Bronx borough of New York City, Jones moved to Irvington, New Jersey , while in elementary school. He learned to swim after he was rescued from a near-drowning at a splash-down pool at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Pennsylvania when he was five years old.[ 2] [ 3] He became an age-group swimmer at Metro Express, a club team at the Jewish Community Center in West Orange, New Jersey under head coach Ed Nessel. Jones later switched teams to the Jersey Gators Swim Club in Cranford under Lou Petroziello. Jones graduated from Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark in 2002. While there, he swam for coach Glenn Cassidy and set numerous Essex County swimming records.
Swimming career
Jones attended North Carolina State University , where he studied English and swam for the NC State Wolfpack swimming and diving team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 2003 to 2006.
2006
He turned professional in the summer of 2006, after signing with Nike [ 4] and burst onto the scene shortly after at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships where he set a meet record in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.84 seconds. He also swam a leg (split of 47.96) in the world record breaking 4×100-meter freestyle relay along with Michael Phelps , Neil Walker and Jason Lezak .
2007
In 2007, he also won a gold medal in 4×100-meter freestyle relay with the same teammates in the 2007 World Aquatics Championships .
2008 Summer Olympics
Jones is the first African-American to hold a world record (4×100-meter freestyle relay) in swimming.[ 5] At the 2008 United States Olympic Trials , Jones broke the American record in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.59. The record was subsequently broken the next day by Garrett Weber-Gale . At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, he won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in a world record time of 3:08.24 with Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale.[ 6]
2009
In July 2009, Jones set the American record in the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana.[ 7]
2012
2012 US Olympic Trials
At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Jones made the Olympic team for the second time by finishing first in the 50-meter freestyle and second in the 100-meter freestyle, which subsequently qualified him for the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In the 50-meter freestyle final, Jones won with a time of 21.59, one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second ahead of second-place finisher Anthony Ervin (21.60).[ 8]
2012 Summer Olympics
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Jones won silver medals in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay .[ 9] He earned a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay after swimming the freestyle leg in the preliminaries.[ 10] [ 11] He also competed in the 100-meter freestyle , but did not qualify for the event finals.[ 6] [ 12]
The 2012 U.S. Olympic swim team was the first U.S. Olympic swim team with more than one black swimmer on it, Jones made history with Anthony Ervin and Lia Neal by being the three African-Americans on the team.[ 13]
Personal bests (long course)
Event
Time
Date
50 m freestyle
21.40
July 2009
100 m freestyle
48.31
July 2008
Key : NR = National record
See also
References
^ "Cullen Jones announces retirement on Brett Hawke podcast" . YouTube .
^ a b "Cullen Jones". Contemporary Black Biography . Vol. 73. Gale. 2009. ISSN 1058-1316 . Retrieved September 9, 2021 .
^ "Olympian Seeks to Highlight Swimming in African-American Community - ABC News" . ABC News .
^ Swimming World Magazine – Swimming News Archived September 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
^ "What's on TV Thursday night" Archived June 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , New York Daily News , July 31, 2008. Accessed August 10, 2008.
^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill ; et al. "Cullen Jones" . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com . Sports Reference LLC . Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
^ "Jones sets American record in 50 free" [dead link ] , "Associated Press ", July 12, 2009.
^ Tjarks, Jonathan (July 2012). "2012 Olympic Swimming Trials: Cullen Jones wins 50M Free, Anthony Ervin Qualifies" . sbnation.com . Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
^ Brady, Erik (August 3, 2012). "USA's Cullen Jones gets oh so close to an Olympic Dream" . usatoday.com . Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
^ "Swimming: U.S. qualifies for men's medley relay" . ca.retuters.com . August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
^ Forde, Pat (August 4, 2012). "Michael Phelps swims into retirement with 18th Olympic Gold on U.S. 400 Medley Relay Team" . yahoo.com . Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
^ Smith, Jared (August 2012). "Men's 100-Meter Freestyle Final: USA's Cullen Jones Misses Final, Nathan Adrian Wins Gold" . sbnation.com . Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
^ "Black Swimmers Have Historic Presence in London Olympics" . Atlanta Black Star . July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
External links
Qualification Men's team Women's team Coaches
Qualification Men's team Women's team Coaches
1964 : Steve Clark , Mike Austin , Gary Ilman , Don Schollander (USA )
1968 : Zac Zorn , Stephen Rerych , Mark Spitz , Ken Walsh (USA )
1972 : David Edgar , John Murphy , Jerry Heidenreich , Mark Spitz (USA )
1984 : Chris Cavanaugh , Mike Heath , Matt Biondi , Rowdy Gaines (USA )
1988 : Chris Jacobs , Troy Dalbey , Tom Jager , Matt Biondi (USA )
1992 : Joe Hudepohl , Matt Biondi , Tom Jager , Jon Olsen , Shaun Jordan , Joel Thomas (USA )
1996 : Jon Olsen , Josh Davis , Brad Schumacher , Gary Hall Jr. , David Fox , Scott Tucker (USA )
2000 : Michael Klim , Chris Fydler , Ashley Callus , Ian Thorpe , Todd Pearson , Adam Pine (AUS )
2004 : Roland Schoeman , Lyndon Ferns , Darian Townsend , Ryk Neethling (RSA )
2008 : Michael Phelps , Garrett Weber-Gale , Cullen Jones , Jason Lezak , Nathan Adrian , Ben Wildman-Tobriner , Matt Grevers (USA )
2012 : Amaury Leveaux , Fabien Gilot , Clément Lefert , Yannick Agnel , Alain Bernard , Jérémy Stravius (FRA )
2016 : Caeleb Dressel , Michael Phelps , Ryan Held , Nathan Adrian , Jimmy Feigen , Blake Pieroni , Anthony Ervin (USA )
2020 : Caeleb Dressel , Blake Pieroni , Bowe Becker , Zach Apple , Brooks Curry (USA )
2024 : Jack Alexy , Chris Guiliano , Hunter Armstrong , Caeleb Dressel , Ryan Held , Matt King (USA )
1960 : Frank McKinney , Paul Hait , Lance Larson , Jeff Farrell (USA )
1964 : Thompson Mann , Bill Craig , Fred Schmidt , Steve Clark (USA )
1968 : Charlie Hickcox , Don McKenzie , Doug Russell , Ken Walsh (USA )
1972 : Mike Stamm , Tom Bruce , Mark Spitz , Jerry Heidenreich (USA )
1976 : John Naber , John Hencken , Matt Vogel , Jim Montgomery (USA )
1980 : Mark Kerry , Peter Evans , Mark Tonelli , Neil Brooks (AUS )
1984 : Rick Carey , Steve Lundquist , Pablo Morales , Rowdy Gaines (USA )
1988 : David Berkoff , Richard Schroeder , Matt Biondi , Chris Jacobs (USA )
1992 : Jeff Rouse , Nelson Diebel , Pablo Morales , Jon Olsen , David Berkoff , Hans Dersch , Melvin Stewart , Matt Biondi (USA )
1996 : Jeff Rouse , Jeremy Linn , Mark Henderson , Gary Hall Jr. , Josh Davis , Kurt Grote , John Hargis , Tripp Schwenk (USA )
2000 : Lenny Krayzelburg , Ed Moses , Ian Crocker , Gary Hall Jr. , Neil Walker , Tommy Hannan , Jason Lezak (USA )
2004 : Aaron Peirsol , Brendan Hansen , Ian Crocker , Jason Lezak , Lenny Krayzelburg , Mark Gangloff , Michael Phelps , Neil Walker (USA )
2008 : Aaron Peirsol , Brendan Hansen , Michael Phelps , Jason Lezak , Matt Grevers , Mark Gangloff , Ian Crocker , Garrett Weber-Gale (USA )
2012 : Matt Grevers , Brendan Hansen , Michael Phelps , Nathan Adrian , Nick Thoman , Eric Shanteau , Tyler McGill , Cullen Jones (USA )
2016 : Ryan Murphy , Cody Miller , Michael Phelps , Nathan Adrian , David Plummer , Kevin Cordes , Tom Shields , Caeleb Dressel (USA )
2020 : Ryan Murphy , Michael Andrew , Caeleb Dressel , Zach Apple , Hunter Armstrong , Andrew Wilson , Tom Shields , Blake Pieroni (USA )
2024 : Xu Jiayu , Qin Haiyang , Sun Jiajun , Pan Zhanle , Wang Changhao (CHN )
1973 : Melvin Nash , Joe Bottom , Jim Montgomery , John Murphy (USA)
1975 : Bruce Furniss , Jim Montgomery , Andy Coan , John Murphy (USA)
1978 : Jack Babashoff , Rowdy Gaines , Jim Montgomery , David McCagg (USA)
1982 : Chris Cavanaugh , Robin Leamy , David McCagg , Rowdy Gaines (USA)
1986 : Tom Jager , Mike Heath , Paul Wallace , Matt Biondi (USA)
1991 : Tom Jager , Brent Lang , Doug Gjertsen , Matt Biondi (USA)
1994 : Jon Olsen , Josh Davis , Uğur Taner , Gary Hall Jr. (USA)
1998 : Scott Tucker , Jon Olsen , Neil Walker , Gary Hall Jr. (USA)
2001 : Michael Klim , Ashley Callus , Todd Pearson , Ian Thorpe (AUS)
2003 : Andrey Kapralov , Ivan Usov , Denis Pimankov , Alexander Popov (RUS)
2005 : Michael Phelps , Neil Walker , Nate Dusing , Jason Lezak (USA)
2007 : Michael Phelps , Neil Walker , Cullen Jones , Jason Lezak (USA)
2009 : Michael Phelps , Ryan Lochte , Matt Grevers , Nathan Adrian (USA)
2011 : James Magnussen , Matt Targett , Matthew Abood , Eamon Sullivan (AUS)
2013 : Yannick Agnel , Florent Manaudou , Fabien Gilot , Jérémy Stravius (FRA)
2015 : Mehdy Metella , Florent Manaudou , Fabien Gilot , Jérémy Stravius (FRA)
2017 : Caeleb Dressel , Townley Haas , Blake Pieroni , Nathan Adrian (USA)
2019 : Caeleb Dressel , Blake Pieroni , Zach Apple , Nathan Adrian (USA)
2022 : Caeleb Dressel , Ryan Held , Justin Ress , Brooks Curry (USA)
2023 : Jack Cartwright , Flynn Southam , Kai Taylor , Kyle Chalmers (AUS)
2024 : Pan Zhanle , Ji Xinjie , Zhang Zhanshuo , Wang Haoyu (CHN)
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: Australia (Klim , English , Fydler , Thorpe )
2002: Australia (Callus , Pearson , Hackett , Thorpe )
2006: USA (Phelps , Walker , Jones , Lezak )
2010: USA (Phelps , Lochte , Lezak , Adrian )
2014: Australia (D'Orsogna , Magnussen , Abood , McEvoy )
2018: Brazil (Santos , Chierighini , Ferreira Jr. , Spajari )