Matthew Nicholas Biondi was born on October 8,1965 and is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player.
37 Facts About Matt Biondi
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At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Matt Biondi won five gold medals, setting world records in the 50-meter freestyle and three relay events.
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Matt Biondi is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
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Matt Biondi started his aquatics career as a swimmer and water polo player in his hometown of Moraga, California.
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Matt Biondi accepted a scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, to swim under Head Coach Nort Thornton and play water polo for coach Pete Cutino, and enrolled in fall of 1983.
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Matt Biondi finished 18th in the preliminaries of the 200-meter freestyle, failing to advance to the finals.
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Thanks to his 49.67 second split time, the US had taken a four-tenths of a second lead by the time that Matt Biondi turned over the race to anchor swimmer Rowdy Gaines.
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In 1985, fresh off of his 1984 Olympics success, Matt Biondi won the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events at the NCAA Championships, setting NCAA and American Records in each event, and contributed relay legs on Cal's victorious 400 and 800-yard freestyle relays, with the 400 free relay team setting NCAA and American records.
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Matt Biondi finished second to Tom Jager of UCLA in the 50-yard freestyle and was part of Cal's second place 400-yard medley relay team.
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The next season, 1986, Matt Biondi swept the sprint freestyles, repeating his 1985 victories in the 100 and 200, and adding a win in the 50 with new NCAA and American records in the event.
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Cal finished first in the 400 and 800 free relays with Matt Biondi anchoring both, but fell short in the 400 medley relay finishing third.
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Once again Cal repeated as champions in the 400 and 800 freestyle relays, yet again they finished third in the 400 medley relay, and for the second straight year Matt Biondi shared the high-point individual title with Morales.
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Matt Biondi broke individual NCAA and American records seven times, and was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 1985,1986, and 1987.
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Matt Biondi set the first of his twelve individual swimming world records in 1985.
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Matt Biondi was the first man to swim the 100-meter freestyle faster than 49 seconds, and by 1988 he owned the ten fastest times swum in that event and held the world record for nearly nine years.
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Matt Biondi won a total 24 US Championships in the 50,100, and 200-meter freestyle events, as well as the 100 butterfly.
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In two World Championships, Matt Biondi won 11 medals including six gold.
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At the National Championships on August 6,1985, Matt Biondi set the world record in the 100-meter freestyle twice in a single day, swimming a 49.24 in the prelims and a 48.95 in the finals.
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Later that month at the 1985 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo, Matt Biondi won the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle, and finished second to teammates Mike Heath and Pablo Morales, respectively, in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly.
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Matt Biondi won three additional gold medals as a member of all three winning American relay teams.
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Matt Biondi improved his world record in the 100-meter freestyle to 48.74 in June 1986 at the World Championship Trials.
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At the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in Madrid, Matt Biondi won seven medals: three gold, one silver, and three bronze.
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Matt Biondi won gold in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 48.94, breaking the 49-second barrier for the third time.
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Matt Biondi set the world record in the 100-meter freestyle for the fourth time, and broke his own American record in the 200-meter freestyle.
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Matt Biondi won five gold, one silver, and one bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, setting four world records and an Olympic record.
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Matt Biondi's finished second in his next event, the 100-meter butterfly, by the narrowest possible margin.
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Matt Biondi chose to glide rather than take another stroke, and was edged out by Anthony Nesty of Suriname by just one one-hundredth of a second.
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Matt Biondi's silver medal time of 53.01 was a personal best.
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Matt Biondi entered the water with the US team in second place.
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The American team won gold with another world record, 3:16.53, anchored by Matt Biondi's blistering split of 47.81.
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At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Matt Biondi won two more gold medals in relays and a silver in the 50-meter freestyle.
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Matt Biondi competed at the World Championships in 1986 and 1991, winning six gold medals.
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Matt Biondi graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy of Industrialized Societies.
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Matt Biondi married Kirsten Metzger in her home state of Hawaii in 1995.
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Kirsten Matt Biondi persuaded her husband to continue his education, and he earned his master's degree in education in 2000 at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
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In recent years, Matt Biondi has worked as a school teacher and swimming coach in Hawaii.
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Matt Biondi has become active within the masters swimming community, launching an annual masters competition that bears his name.