Simon Burnett (born April 14 1983) is a world-class British swimmer. Simon holds 3 British records across the board in freestyle events, which is unprecedented for a British swimmer; they were all broken at the ASA National Championships in 2005. He trains in Arizona and swims for the Arizona Wildcats

Profile

Height: 1.85 m / 6 ft 2 in

Weight: 81 kg / 178 pounds

Stroke: Freestyle

Career

Simon was born at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in southern England. Simon lived in the Oxfordshire village of Chinnor as a child, and then moved a few miles to Tetsworth, attending Lord Williams' Secondary School in Thame, Oxfordshire. After completing his GCSEs, Simon went to John Hampden Grammar School, in High Wycombe, to study chemistry, biology, and physics at A-level. Simon first swam at Wycombe District Swimming Pool from very a young age, and soon joined the Wycombe District Swmming Club, where he remained until 2003. He was coached by Bob Pay and his move to John Hampden, which was local to the Wycombe Sports Centre at which he trained, helped him focus further on swimming. In 2003, with the help of his coach Bob Pay, Simon won a sports scholarship at the University of Arizona to study business. Simon now swims for the Arizona Wildcats under coach Frank Busch.

Simon began competing at an international level in 2000 at the 3 Nations Junior International. At the ASA National Championships, Simon won gold in the 50 m backstroke in 2001 and 2002. On the advise of his coach Bob Pay, Simon switched to swim freestyle in 2003 and began to excel. Simon's television debut was in 2002 at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the 4x200 freestyle relay and won a bronze medal. The following Olympic Games saw Simon finish 7th in the 200 m freestyle, and he competed in the 4x200 freestyle relay team, which finished 4th, nearly grabbing bronze medals. The British trials for the Games had been a great success for Simon, in which he won silver in 100 m freestyle and gold in the 200 m freestyle, despite having broken his wrist in a cycling accident in Arizona two months previously. He was now emerging as an elite British swimmer. Swimming for the University of Arizona, Simon competes in the American NCAAs and has had great success winning gold in his first year in the 200y freestyle and in 2005, winning gold in the 50y and 200y freestyle and silver in the 100y. 2005 was probably Simon's best year yet, returning to England as well for the ASA National Championships. Simon won 3 gold medals in the 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m freestyle. All of which were new British records. In the United States, Simon also broke the 17-year old record for the 200y freestyle set by Matt Biondi at 1:33.03; Simon swam a 1:32.22.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Simon competed in the 200 m freestyle and won silver with a time of 1:47.38, beaten by team mate Ross Davenport, who swam a personal best of 1:47.29. Simon was also part of the relay team in the 4x100 m freestyle, managing to come fourth, with the South African favourites taking gold. However, the most sensational race was the 4x200 m freestyle, when the English team, won the gold medal, nudging Scotland into second place and Australia into third. The next day, Simon stormed to individual gold in the 100 m freestyle, leaving the South African entrants Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman into second and third respectively. With a time of 48.57s, Simon set a Commonwealth Games record and broke his own British record by eleven-hundredths of a second.

Before the Commonwealth Games had ended, Burnett was off to Atlanta for the 2006 NCAA Championships. Swimming for Arizona, Simon won bronze in the 50y freestyle, silver in the 4x50y freestyle relay, and gold in the 4x50y medley relay. His brightest moment came in the 200y freestyle, winning gold and breaking the US open record, with a time of 1:31.20.

Personal Bests

Long Course

• 50 m Freestyle 22.12 (British Record)
• 100 m Freestyle 48.57 (British Record)
• 200 m Freestyle 1.46.59 (British Record)
• 50 m Backstroke 26.60
• 100 m Backstroke 56.80

Short Course

• 100 m Freestyle 49.00
• 200 m Freestyle 1.45.24
• 50 m Backstroke 24.88
• 100 m Backstroke 55.20

External links

• British Swimming profile

• Athens 2004 profile

• Melbourne 2006 profile

• Swim Rankings profile

• The Times, 20 February 2006 "Burnett perfectly prepared to stand in the path of Thorpedo"