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Randall Bal (born November 14, 1980) is an American swimmer who specialized in the backstroke. He is a former world record holder in the 50-meter backstroke (long and short course).[1]
He has won a total of thirteen medals in major international competition,[1] five golds, six silvers, and two bronze spanning the World Championships, the Pan American Games, and the Pan Pacific Championships.[2]
Personal
[edit]Bal was born in Fair Oaks, California in 1980, the son of Adrian and Carol Bal. His younger sister, Tamara, swam at UCLA. Bal attended Bella Vista High School where he graduated in 1999. From there, he swam for Stanford University, class of 2003, and graduated with a degree in psychology.
Swimming career
[edit]At the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in Manchester, he took the silver medal in the 100 Back, but he finished a surprising sixth (his PB would have won the event) in the 50 Back. He won another silver on the medley relay. He was the top qualifier in the 100 Back at the 2008 Olympic Trials, in both the preliminaries and semi-finals, with the then-third fastest time ever in the semis (53.09), but he faded to fourth in the finals,[1] finishing behind Aaron Peirsol, who set a new World Record of 52.89, Matt Grevers, and Ryan Lochte.[3] In 2008 Randall broke both the World Record (24.33 LCM & 22.87 SCM) in the 50 backstroke and missed the 100 LCM backstroke World Record by .04 of a second. He trained in northern California.
See also
[edit]- List of Pan American Games records in swimming
- List of Stanford University people
- List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)
- World record progression 50 metres backstroke
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Tillotson, Jason (October 17, 2016). "The Little-Known Legend of Randall Bal and Hayley McGregory". Swimming World News. Sports Publications, Inc. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ^ "Randall BAL | Results | FINA Official". FINA - FΓ©dΓ©ration Internationale De Natation. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Peirsol and Coughlin break two backstroke records". France 24. July 2, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
External links
[edit]- Randall Bal at World Aquatics π Edit this at Wikidata
- Randall Bal at USA Swimming (archived June 2, 2021)
- Randall Bal β Stanford University athlete bio at the Wayback Machine (archived August 10, 2011)
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Latter Day Saints from California
- American male backstroke swimmers
- American male freestyle swimmers
- World record setters in swimming
- Sportspeople from Fair Oaks, California
- Stanford Cardinal men's swimmers
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
- Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
- Swimmers at the 2007 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- 21st-century American sportsmen
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