Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Kenneth Owen Merten | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "Ken" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1945-05-04) May 4, 1945 (age 79) Akron, Ohio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 176 lb (80 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Los Angeles Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | Southern Methodist University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kenneth Owen Merten (born May 4, 1945) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Pan American Games medalist, and former world record-holder.
Merten won three medals in his breaststroke specialty at the Pan American Games. At the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo, Brazil, he won a silver medal for his runner-up finish in the 200-meter breaststroke. Four years later at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he received a pair of bronze medals for his third-place performances in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke.
Merten represented the United States at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He competed in the semifinals of the men's 100-meter breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:11.6. He also swam in the preliminary heats of the men's 200-meter breaststroke, clocking a time of 2:37.0, but did not advance.
Merten was born in Akron, Ohio, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. He attended Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where he swam for the SMU Mustangs swimming and diving team in national Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. While he was an SMU swimmer, he won NCAA individual national championships in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, the first ever in the history of the SMU swim team, and set new American records in doing so.
Merten helped set a new world record of 3:57.2 in the 4×100-meter medley relay as a member of the winning U.S. relay team at the 1967 World University Games on August 31, 1967. The record was broken by an East German relay team a little over two months later. At the University Games, he also gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events.
He is now retired after a 32-year career as a teacher, school administrator and coach. He actively competes in windsurfing within his age group, and is an active participant in Swim Across America, a non-profit organization that uses Olympic swimmers to raise funds for cancer research. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
See also
References
- ^ "Pan American Games: Men's Swimming Medalists". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ken Merten". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Breaststroke Semi-Finals". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Breaststroke Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- ^ Swim Across America, Olympians, Ken Merten. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
- "A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week". Sports Illustrated. September 11, 1967. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
1968 USA Olympic swimming team | ||
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Men's Team |
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Women's Team | ||
Staff |
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Summer Universiade Champions in Men's 100 m Breaststroke | |
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Summer Universiade Champions in Men's 200 m Breaststroke | |
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- 1945 births
- Living people
- American male breaststroke swimmers
- World record setters in swimming
- Olympic swimmers for the United States
- SMU Mustangs men's swimmers
- Swimmers from Akron, Ohio
- Swimmers from Dallas
- Swimmers at the 1963 Pan American Games
- Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games
- Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Summer World University Games medalists in swimming
- FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States
- Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade
- Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in swimming
- Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in swimming
- 20th-century American sportsmen