Dominik Koll

Dominik Koll (born 24 December 1984) is an Austrian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian, a 41-time national titleholder, and a 5-time long and short course Austrian record holder. Koll is a member of the swimming team for SK VÖEST Linz. He won a bronze medal, as a member of the Austrian swimming team, at the 2008 European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands.[2] Koll is one of few LGBT Olympians to come out as gay.[3]

Dominik Koll
Personal information
National team Austria
Born (1984-12-24) 24 December 1984
Linz, Austria
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubSK VÖEST Linz
College teamColumbia University (U.S.)
CoachJim Bolster (U.S.)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Austria
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Eindhoven 4×200 m freestyle

Swimming career

Koll made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, competing in the men's 200 m freestyle. Koll cruised to fourth place in his heat and twenty-fifth overall by 0.53 of a second behind Latvia's Romāns Miloslavskis in 1:51.36.[4][5]

Four years after competing in his first Olympics, Koll qualified for his second Austrian team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As a 23-year old, he swam a FINA A-cut time of 1:48.21 at the European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands.[6][7] At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Koll set a new Austrian mark in the 200 m freestyle and recorded the sixteenth fastest time of 1:47.81 on the second night of preliminaries to secure the final spot in the semifinals.[8][9] The following morning, Koll failed to qualify for the final, as he finished his semifinal run with a fourth-slowest time of 1:47.87, just 0.06 of a second off his record from the preliminaries.[10]

Two days later, Koll swam the start-off leg of the men's 4×200 m freestyle relay, recording his individual-split time of 1:47.72. Koll and his teammates David Brandl, Markus Rogan, and Florian Janistyn finished the second heat in fifth place and ninth overall, for another national record-breaking time of 7:11.45.[11]

Shortly after the Olympics, Koll set another national record in the 400 m freestyle at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships, with a time of 3:39.82. The following year, he posted his fifth-career Austrian record time of 1:43.90 by finishing eighth in the preliminary heats of the men's 200 m freestyle at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.[12]

Koll is a current member of the swimming team for Columbia Lions, and a film and economics major at Columbia University in New York, New York.[13]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Dominik Koll". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  2. "Bronze strahlte heller als Gold" [Bronze shining brighter than gold] (in German). Wiener Zeitung. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  3. Coming-Out des österreichischen Schwimmers und EM-Medaillengewinner Dominik Koll
  4. "Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 5". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. Thomas, Stephen (15 August 2004). "Men's 200 Freestyle Prelims: Thorpe Fastest in 1:47.22; Hoogie, Keller, Phelps and Hackett All in the Mix". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. "Olympic Cut Sheet – Men's 200m Freestyle" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 12. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  7. "2008 LEN European Aquatics Championships (Eindhoven, Netherlands) – Men's 4×200m Freestyle Final" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  8. "Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 8". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  9. Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry Tops Men's 200 Free Field". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  10. "Men's 200m Freestyle Semifinal 1". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  11. "Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay Heat 2". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  12. "European Short Course Swimming Championships (Istanbul 2009) – Men's 200m Freestyle" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  13. Wong, Eric (28 February 2012). "A new perspective on swimming for former Olympian". Columbia Spectator. Columbia University. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
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