Mark Foster

Mark Foster

Mark Foster in a parade in London (2008)

Personal information

Surname:

Mark Andrew Foster

Nickname (s):

Fos

Nation:

United Kingdom

Swimming style (s) :

Freestyle, butterfly

Society:

University of Bath SC

Birthday:

May 12, 1970

Place of birth:

Billericay , England

Size:

1.98 m

Medal table

Medals

World championships
silver	2003 Barcelona	50 m freestyle
bronze	2001 Fukuoka	50 m Schmett.
Short course world championships
gold	1993 Palma	50 m freestyle
gold	1999 Hong Kong	50 m freestyle
gold	1999 Hong Kong	50 m Schmett.
gold	2000 Athens	50 m freestyle
gold	2000 Athens	50 m Schmett.
gold	2004 Indianapolis	50 m freestyle
silver	1997 Gothenburg	50 m freestyle
silver	2002 Moscow	50 m freestyle
silver	2004 Indianapolis	50 m Schmett.
silver	2008 Manchester	50 m freestyle
bronze	1997 Gothenburg	4 × 100 m layers
bronze	2002 Moscow	50 m Schmett.
European championships
silver	1997 Seville	50 m freestyle
bronze	1993 Sheffield	4 × 100 m layers
bronze	1999 Istanbul	50 m Schmett.
bronze	2000 Helsinki	50 m Schmett.
European short course championships
gold	1992 Espoo	50 m Schmett.
gold	1996 Rostock	50 m freestyle
gold	1996 Rostock	50 m Schmett.
gold	1998 Sheffield	50 m freestyle
gold	1999 Lisbon	50 m freestyle
gold	2000 Valencia	50 m Schmett.
gold	2003 Dublin	50 m freestyle
gold	2003 Dublin	50 m Schmett.
gold	2004 Vienna	50 m freestyle
gold	2004 Vienna	50 m Schmett.
gold	2005 Trieste	50 m freestyle
silver	1998 Sheffield	50 m Schmett.
silver	1998 Sheffield	4 × 50 m freestyle
silver	2000 Valencia	50 m freestyle
silver	2001 Antwerp	50 m Schmett.
silver	2001 Antwerp	4 × 50 m layers
silver	2005 Trieste	50 m Schmett.
bronze	1992 Espoo	50 m freestyle
bronze	1996 Rostock	4 × 50 m layers
bronze	1998 Sheffield	4 × 50 m layers
bronze	1999 Lisbon	4 × 50 m layers
bronze	2000 Valencia	4 × 50 m freestyle
bronze	2005 Trieste	4 × 50 m layers
bronze	2005 Trieste	4 × 50 m freestyle
Commonwealth Games
Participant for EnglandEngland
gold	1994 Victoria	50 m freestyle
gold	1998 Kuala Lumpur	50 m freestyle
silver	1990 Auckland	4 × 100 m freestyle
bronze	1986 Edinburgh	4 × 100 m freestyle
bronze	1990 Auckland	50 m freestyle
bronze	1994 Victoria	4 × 100 m freestyle
bronze	2002 Manchester	50 m freestyle
bronze	2002 Manchester	50 m Schmett.

Mark Andrew Foster (born May 12, 1970 in Billericay , England ) is a former British swimming professional .

Career

Mark Foster celebrated his greatest successes over the 50 meter freestyle and 50 meter butterfly course, and especially on the short course.

Foster was first considered by the English Commonwealth Team for the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh at the age of 16 . There he won the bronze medal with the 4 × 100 meter freestyle relay.

He made his breakthrough four years later, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland , where he won the bronze medal in the 50 meter freestyle and thus his first individual medal in international championships.

In the 1990s he improved the 50 meter freestyle short course world record four times and the 50 meter butterfly short course world record twice.

Foster took part in the Summer Olympics five times, but could never win an Olympic medal. In 1988 in Seoul he was over the 50 meter freestyle 22. With the British 4 × 100 meter freestyle relay, he reached the final and there the seventh place.

In 1992 in Barcelona he reached the 50 meter freestyle final and was ultimately sixth. With the British 4 × 100 meter freestyle relay, like in Seoul, it was only enough for seventh place.

In 1996 in Atlanta , he finished 16th over the 50 meter freestyle course and four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney he finished seventh over the same distance.

In 2004 he was the first to finish the British Olympic Games for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens over the 50 meter freestyle and undercut the international qualification limit, but stayed only seven hundredths of a second above the national limit, which meant he was not allowed to participate in the Games.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , Foster was given the honor of flying the British flag at the Olympic opening ceremony. In these games he failed over the 50 meter freestyle in the run-up and finished in 22nd place.

Foster actually announced his retirement from competitive sports after the European Short Course Championships in Helsinki in 2006 , but in 2007 he decided to take part again in Manchester for the Short Course World Championships in his own country in 2008 and to try again to win an Olympic medal in Beijing. In Manchester, Foster was once again runner-up in the 50 meter freestyle world championship. In Beijing he did not get beyond the 50 meter freestyle heats and finished in 23rd place.

Private

Mark Foster appeared on numerous British TV shows in 2008. Among other things, he formed a dance couple with the New Zealand professional dancer Hayley Holt in the sixth season of the British TV dance show Strictly Come Dancing . In November 2017, Foster came out as gay.

Web links

Website for Mark Foster (English)
Mark Foster in the database of Swimrankings.net (English)
Mark Foster in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Foster, Mark
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Foster, Mark Andrew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH	May 12, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH	Billericay , England

[1] Mark Foster's dream of an Olympic medal on BBC-online (English)

[2] Mark Foster's profile at bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing (English)

[3] OUtsports.com: Former Olympic swimmer Mark Foster comes out as gay