Per ("Pelle") Anders Gustaf Holmertz (born 3 February 1960 in Motala, Östergötland) is a former freestyle swimmer from Sweden and a 1980 Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter freestyle.[1]

Per Holmertz
Personal information
Full namePer Anders Gustaf Holmertz
NationalitySwedish
Born (1960-02-03) 3 February 1960 (age 64)
Motala, Östergötland
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
College teamUniversity of California Berkeley
CoachNort Thornton
(U. Cal Berkeley)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1980 Moscow 100 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Berlin 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Guayaquil 4×100 m freestyle
European Championships (LC)
Silver medal – second place 1981 Split 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1983 Rome 4×100 m freestyle

U Cal Berkeley swimming

edit

At the University of California Berkeley, Holmertz was coached by Hall of Fame Coach Nort Thornton.[2] At Cal, Holmertz won All-American honors four times. Swimming during an exceptional period in the team's history, Holmertz was highly instrumental in leading Cal to its first NCAA team championship in 1979, then contributed to another NCAA national title in the 1980 season. He swam on two NCAA teams that set relay records. His first NCAA win was with the 400 medley relay team in 1979 that set a combined time of 3:15:22. In 1982, he swam on the 800 free relay that set a record time of 6:28:94. In the same year he captured the 200 freestyle title at the NCAA Championships and won 100 freestyle title at the Pac-10 Conference championships.[3]

Pelle is not related to accomplished swimmer Anders Holmertz, although they are both from the same town.

1980 Olympics

edit

He won a silver medal for Sweden in the 100 meter freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics with a time of 50.91, and was followed closely by Swedish team mate Per Johansson who took the bronze.[1][4]

Honors

edit

In 2006, Holmertz was inaugurated into the University of California at Berkeley's Sports Hall of Fame for his numerous wins and records for the school's swimteam in the early eighties. Holmertz graduated with a degree in economics from Cal in 1983.[3]

Personal bests

edit

Long course (50 m)

edit
Event Time


Date Meet Location Ref
50 m freestyle 23.05 10 Apr 1980 - Austin, TX, United States
100 m freestyle 50.66 17 Jul 1982 - Stockholm, Sweden
Legend: WRWorld record; EREuropean record; NRSwedish record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

[1]

Clubs

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Olympedia Bio, Per Holmertz". Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Nort Thornton (USA): 1995 Honor Coach". International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "U. Cal Berkeley Hall of Fame, Per Holmertz". Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Sports Reference Olympic Profile, Pelle Holmertz". Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Incumbent
Swedish National LC Champion
Men's 50 m freestyle

1983
Succeeded by