Cullen Jones (born February 29, 1984 in New York, New York) is an American freestyle sprint swimmer and Olympic gold medalist.
Born in the Bronx borough of New York City, Jones moved to Irvington, New Jersey while in elementary school. He learned to swim after he was rescued from a near-drowning at a splash-down pool at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Pennsylvania when he was five years old. He became an age-group swimmer at Metro Express, a club team at the Jewish Community Center in West Orange, NJ under head coach Ed Nessel. Jones later switched teams to the Jersey Gators Swim Club in Cranford.
Jones attended North Carolina State University, where he was an English major with a minor in psychology. He turned professional in the summer of 2006, after signing with Nike and burst onto the scene shortly after at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships where he set a meet record in the 50 m freestyle with a time of 21.84. He also swam a leg (split of 47.96) in the world record breaking 4×100 m freestyle relay along with Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale. In 2007, he also won a gold medal in 4×100 m freestyle relay with the same teammates in 2007 World Aquatics Championships
Nicholas ("Nick") Thoman (born March 6, 1986) is an American backstroke swimmer. He currently holds the world record in the 100-meter backstroke (short course).
He has won a total of six medals in major international competition, two gold, one silver, and three bronze spanning the World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and Summer Universiade.
He attended Mariemont High School, led under a coach that led him to victory, Kevin Maness. A lot is owed to him. At the 2009 Duel in the Pool, a short course meet, Thoman combined with Mark Gangloff, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian in 4×100-meter medley relay to break the world record previously held by Canada. While leading off the relay, Thoman also broke the world record in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 48.94.
At the 2010 National Championships, Thoman qualified to swim at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in the 50, 100 and 200-meter backstroke. In the 100-meter backstroke final at the 2010 National Championships, Thoman was out first at the first 50 with a time of 25.80. However, he faded to third place with a time of 53.78, finishing behind David Plummer and Aaron Peirsol. In the 200-meter backstroke final, Thoman finished in 5th place with a time of 1:57.7. At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Thoman won bronze in the 50-meter backstroke.
Nicholas ("Nick") James Brunelli (born December 18, 1981 in Norwood, Massachusetts) is a freestyle swimmer from the United States, who won the gold medal in the men's 4x100 m medley relay event at the 2003 Pan American Games. He is also the American Record holder in the 50 freestyle in short course meters format.
He also has a blog at nickbrunelli.wordpress.com
Bryan Lundquist (born May 30, 1985) is an USA swimmer from Marietta, Georgia.
He was a member of the USA men's relay that established a new World Record in the short course meters 400 Free Relay at the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships.
On July 18, 2009 while swimming at the USA Swimming Sectionals in Knoxville, TN, Bryan established a new American Record in the 50 meter butterfly with a time of 22.91, becoming the first American to swim under 23 seconds in the event.
Bryan attended Lassiter High School in Marietta, Georgia, and was a member of the Stingrays Swimming club team. He swam collegiately for Auburn University, where he was a member of four consecutive National Championship teams.
Ryan Steven Lochte (born August 3, 1984) is an American swimmer and a six-time Olympic medalist (three gold, two silver, one bronze). As part of the American team, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course). Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 200-meter individual medley (long and short course) and the 400-meter individual medley (short course).
Lochte's success has earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award and the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice. He has also been named the FINA Swimmer of the Year twice. He has won a total of fifty-seven medals in major international competition, thirty-seven gold, eleven silver, and nine bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan American, and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle swimmer. He is noted for the speed and distance he attains while kicking underwater. Lochte is also known for his dominance in the short course format (25-yard long swimming pool).
Sometimes the toughest person to learn to love, is yourself.