David Berkoff

David Berkoff
Personal information
Surname:	David Berkoff
Nation:	United States
Swimming style (s) :	move
Birthday:	November 30, 1966
Place of birth:	Philadelphia
Size:	175 cm
Weight:	70 kg
Medal table

David Charles Berkoff (born November 30, 1966 in Philadelphia ) is a former American swimmer and two-time Olympic champion.

Berkoff studied anthropology at Harvard University . During his studies he perfected the underwater launch with his trainer Joe Bernal, also known as "Berkoff Blastoff", where he dived approximately the first 35 to 40 meters at a depth of 1.5 meters. With this technique he was able to improve the world record over 100 meters to 54.51 seconds in the run-up to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul . In the final, he finally won the silver medal. He was also a member of the US swimming relay over 100 m individual medley and won the gold medal with it. After the Olympic Games, however, the sports association Fédération Internationale de Natation banned this technique except for the first 15 meters of a position (butterfly, freestyle and back), the exception being the chest position.

Four years later, at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona , he again won gold with the US swimming relay over 100 m medley and a bronze medal in the individual competition over 100 m back.

In 2005 Berkoff was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame . Berkoff now works as a lawyer and lives and teaches in Missoula , Montana . Together with Matt Biondi he founded the Delphys Foundation for Marine Study , a foundation that studies dolphins and whales in their natural environment.

Web links

• David Berkoff in the International Swimming Hall of Fame (English)
• David Berkoff in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ The New York Times : Fastest Backstroker Loses a Revolution . Retrieved January 1, 2011.