Alex Baumann
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Swimming | |||
| Competitor for Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canada | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 200m Medley | |
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 400m Medley | |
Alexander ("Alex") Sasha Baumann (born April 21, 1964) is a Canadian athlete, who won two gold medals and set two world records in swimming at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Born in Prague, (former Czechoslovakia), Baumann was raised in Canada after his family moved there in 1969 following the Prague Spring. The family settled in Sudbury, Ontario, where, at the age of nine, Baumann became involved in competitive swimming, training at Laurentian University.
[edit] Olympic career
By the time he was seventeen, Baumann owned 38 Canadian swimming records and the world record in the 200-metre individual medley. He accepted a swimming scholarship and entered Indiana University to train under its legendary coach James "Doc" Counsilman; however with chronic pain in his shoulder, he made the decision to return to Sudbury to continue physical therapy and training under the direction of his long-time coach, Dr. Jeno Tihanyi. Forced to sit out the 1982 World Aquatic Championships in Ecuador due to his injury, Baumann's training progressed enough that he was able to win gold in both 200 and 400-metre individual medley events at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, lowering his world record in the 200-metre event to 2:02.25 in the process. He also won the 400-metre individual medley event at the 1983 World University Games.
Prior to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Baumann's father died of complications from diabetes and his brother, Roman, committed suicide. Baumann persevered through these tragedies, as well as his lingering tendonitis and shoulder injuries, to enter the Olympics as one of Canada's best Olympic hopes.
At the 1984 Olympics, Baumann was selected as Canada's flagbearer for the opening ceremonies. He won gold medals in the 400-metre individual medley, setting a world record time of 4:17.41, and the 200-metre race, lowering the world mark to 2:01.42. The 400-metre gold was Canada's first in swimming since 1912.
He was named Canada's male athlete of the year for 1984 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was also named as the Male World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine in the same year. In 1988, he was awarded the Order of Ontario.
Baumann continued his swimming career with three gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in the two individual medley events, and swimming anchor on Canada's 4 X 100m medley team.
Baumann shared a close bond with his coach of 14 years, Dr. Jeno Tihanyi. After the 1984 Olympics, the two authored a book titled Swimming with Alex Baumann: A Program for Competitive and Recreational Swimmers.
[edit] Coaching
Subsequent to the 1987 Pacific Championships in Australia, Baumann retired from competitive swimming, initially working with Canadian broadcaster CBC for the 1988 Olympics, and also returning to Sudbury as a coach until 1991. Some speculated that Baumann was unable to find a coaching position after he criticized Swimming Canada Natation for performances at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1990.
Baumann moved to Australia to enter graduate studies at the University of Queensland before becoming manager of sport programs with the Queensland Academy of Sport between 1996 and 1997. He then held various positions with the Queensland Government before becoming CEO of Queensland Swimming in 1999.
After a poor showing by Canada at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Baumann felt he had more to offer Canadian sport, and expressed interest in taking on the vacant leadership position at the Canadian Olympic Committee; however, the COC felt he did not have the business background to handle the job. Ultimately, Baumann was not offered the Canadian Olympic Committee position. This caused some controversy and criticism in Canada as many Canadian athletes and citizens felt he was the best choice for the job.[1] A number of foreign sports organizations felt the same way, and he was courted heavily by the English Institute of Sport and the Queensland Academy of Sport, ultimately accepting the position of executive director for the Queensland Academy of Sport in 2002.
In 2004, after a dismal showing by Canada at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, in which they failed to medal and their best finish was sixth place, head coach Dave Johnson was fired. Baumann was courted by Swimming Canada Natation but he decided to remain at the Queensland Academy.
[edit] Head of Canada's Summer Olympic Program
On September 27, 2006, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced that Baumann was hired to take over Canada's Road to Excellence initiative beginning in January 2007. Canada had achieved mediocre results at the 2004 Athens Olympics with a tally of only 12 medals in all events, which resulted in an overall 21st place national showing. These poor results prompted much criticism from Canadians. Baumann has currently announced a goal for Team Canada: a top 16th finish in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a top 12th finish at the 2012 London Games.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Image:Flag of the United States.svg Bill Barrett | Men's 200 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) August 1, 1980 – August 23, 1987 | Succeeded by Image:Flag of Hungary.svg Tamás Darnyi |
| Preceded by Image:Flag of East Germany.svg Jens-Peter Berndt | Men's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) June 17, 1984 – August 14, 1987 | Succeeded by Image:Flag of the United States.svg David Wharton |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Image:Flag of the United States.svg Rowdy Gaines | World Swimmer of the Year 1981 | Succeeded by Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Vladimir Salnikov |
| Preceded by Image:Flag of the United States.svg Rick Carey | World Swimmer of the Year 1984 | Succeeded by Image:Flag of Germany.svg Michael Gross |
Olympic champions in men's 200 m individual medley |
|---|
1968: Charles Hickcox | 1972: Gunnar Larsson | 1984: Alex Baumann | 1988: Tamás Darnyi | 1992: Tamás Darnyi | 1996: Attila Czene | 2000: Massimiliano Rosolino | 2004: Michael Phelps |
Olympic champions in men's 400 m individual medley |
|---|
1964: Richard Roth | 1968: Charles Hickcox | 1972: Gunnar Larsson | 1976: Rod Strachan | 1980: Aleksandr Sidorenko | 1984: Alex Baumann | 1988: Tamás Darnyi | 1992: Tamás Darnyi | 1996: Tom Dolan | 2000: Tom Dolan | 2004: Michael Phelps |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Baumann, Alexander |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Canadian swimmer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 21, 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
it:Alex Baumann nl:Alex Baumann fi:Alex Baumann
Categories: 1964 births | Commonwealth Games gold medalists for Canada | Olympic gold medalists for Canada | Canadian Australians | Canada's Sports Hall of Fame | Canadian swimmers | Medley swimmers | Canadians of Czech descent | Czechoslovak immigrants to Canada | Living people | Officers of the Order of Canada | Members of the Order of Ontario | Olympic swimmers of Canada | Ontario sportspeople | People from Prague | People from Greater Sudbury | Competitors at the 1982 Commonwealth Games | Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games | Swimming World World Swimmers of the Year | Laurentian University alumni
