Bill Pilczuk

Bill Pilczuk
Personal information
Surname:	Wiiliam Pilczuk
Nation:	United States
Swimming style (s) :	Freestyle
Birthday:	September 14, 1971
Place of birth:	Cape May Point
Medal table

William Pilczuk (born September 14, 1971 in Cape May Point , New Jersey ) is a former American swimmer who only competed in the 50 meter freestyle .

Career

Pilczuk's career has often been the focus of public interest. He did not go through college training programs, received no scholarships and was initially not noticed even by national experts. He attended public high school in Erma , New Jersey, and then Miami-Dade Community College for two years, hoping to receive offers from a Division I school of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . He renounced the SEC Championships in favor of a freshman and graduated magna cum laude .

His sporting breakthrough was qualifying for the swimming world championships in Rome in 1994 . However, there he could not secure a front placement. During this time he lived in a three-person shared apartment in Auburn , Alabama . Its only sponsor was the swimwear manufacturer Speedo . The following year he drew attention to himself with a silver medal at the Pan American Games in the Argentine city ​​of Mar del Plata . At the end of 1995, his parents organized a charity evening in order to use the money they raised to help their son prepare for the 1996 Summer Olympics . There were about 5,000 US dollars together. Pilczuk missed qualifying at the United States Olympic Games by five hundredths of a second.

On the other hand, he won the 50 meter freestyle of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Fukuoka in 1997 - at the same time as the Puerto Rican Ricardo Busquets . In December of the same year he won prize money of 6,000 US dollars at a swimming meeting and was able to prepare for the World Cup without worrying or financial worries. Completely surprising for the professional world, he won the title over 50 meters freestyle at the 1998 World Swimming Championships ahead of the great favorite, Olympic champion and defending champion over this distance Alexander Popov . After his win, Bill Pilczuk joked that Auburn could retire the rest of his life with the $ 36,000 prize pool. In addition to his international successes, Pilczuk also secured five national championship titles in the course of his career.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leigh Montville: "King Of The Worlds"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Sports Illustrated , January 26, 1998. Retrieved July 28, 2011.