Peter Szmidt

Peter Szmidt (born August 12, 1961)[1] was a Canadian swimmer, competing in the freestyle events during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Peter Szmidt

Personal information
National team	Canada
Born	(1961-08-12) August 12, 1961 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	Pointe-Claire Swim Club Edmonton Keyano Swim Club
Medal record Men's swimming Representing  Canada Pan American Games 1979 San Juan 4×100 m freestyle 1979 San Juan 400 m freestyle 1979 San Juan 4×200 m freestyle Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton 4×100 m freestyle 1978 Edmonton 4×200 m freestyle 1982 Brisbane 200 m freestyle 1982 Brisbane 400 m freestyle 1982 Brisbane 4×100 m freestyle World University Games 1983 Edmonton 4×200 m freestyle

Szmidt competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics and was supposed to represent his native country at the 1980 Summer Olympics, but didn't start due to the international boycott of the Moscow Games. A resident of Sarnia, Ontario he won a total number of three medals at the 1979 Pan American Games.

On July 15, 1980, at the Canadian Olympic trials, Szmidt set the world record for 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:50:49. He held the world record at the time of the 1980 Olympics, in which he did not race due to the boycott. The world record stood for 18 months and was a Canadian record for 20 years.

Szmidt swam in competition with Russian swimmer Vladimir Salnikov, who dominated long-distance freestyle swimming in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Szmidt's 400-metre record was the only interruption in Salnikov's title as the world record-holder for 400-meter freestyle from 1979 through 1985.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Szmidt was a member of the Canadian Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay and finished fifth in the final.