Mike Swain

Mike Swain (2012)

Michael "Mike" Lee Swain (born December 21, 1960 in Elizabeth , New Jersey ) is a former American judoka . In 1987 he was the first world judo champion from the United States.

Life

The 1.75 m tall Swain began his half-lightweight career. In this weight class he won the silver medal at the Pan American Championships in 1978. In 1980 he was one of the Olympic squad, which due to the Olympic boycott was not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Moscow.

From 1981 Swain competed in the lightweight, the weight class up to 71 kilograms. At the Pan American Games in 1983 , he won a bronze medal. In 1984 the Olympic Games took place in Los Angeles, Swain won his first two fights, with the second fight being won after four seconds. In the third fight he was defeated by the Brazilian Luis Onmura .

In 1985 Swain won a bronze medal at the Universiade in Kobe. At the Judo World Championships in 1985 in Seoul Swain reached the final with three wins, where he was defeated by the South Korean Ahn Byeong-keun . In 1986 Swain won the final of the Pan American Championships against Angelo Ruíz from Puerto Rico. A year later Swain won the final at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis against Luis Onmura. Three months later he reached the final of the 1987 World Championships with five victories , with the final victory over Frenchman Marc Alexandre he won the world title. In 1988 at the Olympic Games in Seoul Swain lost after two first victories in the quarterfinals against Sven Loll from the GDR. After a victory in the hope round over the West German Steffen Stranz he was defeated by the British Kerrith Brown . After Brown was later disqualified for doping, Swain received the bronze medal.

At the World Championships in 1989 in Belgrade Swain reached the final for the third time in a row, this time he was defeated by the Japanese Toshihiko Koga . In 1990 he lost to the Japanese Yukiharu Yoshitaka in the final of the Goodwill Games in Seattle. At the end of his career, Swain retired at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona after 21 seconds against the North Korean Pak Yong-i .

After the end of his active career, Swain looked after the American judo team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Swain is married to the Brazilian judoka Tania Ishii and the son-in-law of the judoka Chiaki Ishii .

In 1987 he founded the company Swain Sports , which he expanded into a large supplier of mixed martial arts equipment. In 2008 he sold the company to Dollamur , where in return he became Vice President responsible for the world market for MMA equipment.

literature

• Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00741-5 .
• Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. Sportverlag Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-328-00830-6 .

Web links

• Mike Swain in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Mike Swain on judoinside.com

Footnotes

1. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. p. 953
2. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. pp. 278f, note 303
3. ↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. p. 421