Vanderkaay Wins First Individual Olympic Medal
8/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Olympics
BEIJING, China -- University of Michigan men's swimming alumnus Peter Vanderkaay (2003-06) picked up his first career individual Olympic medal Tuesday morning (Aug. 12), earning bronze in the 200-meter freestyle. Vanderkaay touched the wall in a personal-best time of 1:45.14. It was the second career Olympic medal for Vanderkaay, who was a member of the United States 4x200-meter freestyle relay team that won gold at the 2004 Games in Athens.
Former U-M volunteer men's swimming coach Michael Phelps won the 200m freestyle final in a world-record time of 1:42.96, collecting his third gold medal of the Beijing Games and his record-tying ninth career Olympic gold. Park Taehwan of South Korea won silver in a time of 1:44.85, 0.29 of a second ahead of Vanderkaay.
A five-time NCAA champion while swimming for the Wolverines, Vanderkaay was fourth off the wall after both 50 and 100 meters before coming on in the second half of the race to earn a podium finish. The Rochester, Mich., native joins Gustavo Borges (1992-95) as the only two former Michigan swimmers to medal in the 200m freestyle at the Olympic Games. Borges won silver for Brazil in Atlanta in 1996.
Vanderkaay is scheduled to compete in two more events in Beijing: the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and the 1,500-meter freestyle. He will not swim in the relay preliminaries Tuesday night (Aug. 12) but is expected to compete in the final Wednesday morning (Aug. 13). The heats of the 1,500m are scheduled for Friday evening (Aug. 15), with the final set for Sunday morning (Aug. 17).
