Alex Meyer (swimmer)
Alexander Meyer (born July 5, 1988) is a former American competition swimmer who specialized in open water and long-distance swimming. He won a gold medal at the 2010 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in the 25-kilometer open water event. He was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team, and placed tenth in the 10-kilometer open water event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Alex won his final race before retirement, the 62nd Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean held on July 30, 2016. Early years Meyer was born in Rochester, Minnesota. He has always been around the water ever since he was a baby, and started swimming competitively when he was 7 years old in Glens Falls, New York. Meyer and his family then moved to Ithaca, New York when he was 11. In Ithaca, Meyer swam for Ithaca Aquatics Club and joined the high school varsity team as a seventh grader. In high school, he was a four-time All-American swimmer and a two-time academic All-American. He won back-to-back New York state championships during his junior and senior years. College career Meyer attended Harvard University, where he majored in human evolutionary biology. At Harvard, he swam for the Harvard Crimson swimming team, and was a two-time All-Ivy League selection. He made two appearances at the NCAA Division I Championships. His second year, Meyer qualified for and competed in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, in both the 400-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events. At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, he was disqualified in the 25-kilometer event. As a senior, Meyer was the Harvard men's team co-captain where he earned All-America honors with a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Division I Championships. That year, he also received the Harold S. Ulen Award as the career high-point swimmer, and the Phil Moriarty Award as the high-point swimmer at the Ivy League Championships. International career After graduation from Harvard, Meyer stayed in the Boston area and trained with Crimson Aquatics under Harvard men's swimming head coach Kevin Tyrrell. The summer after graduation, he won his first international gold medal at the 2010 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in the 25 km. The following year, Meyer competed in the Open Water Grand Prix and World Cup events. In June 2011, he won gold again in the 10K U.S. Open Water Championships, giving him a bid to the 2011 10K Open Water World Championships in Shanghai, China. Meyer placed fourth in Shanghai, making him the first swimmer to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. 2016 winner of the prestigious and difficult "Traversée du Lac St.Jean" (Lac St. Jean) 32 km Fina Grand Prix race in Lac St. Jean in Roberval, Quebec Canada on his first ever participation with a time of 6h28m01s. Personal Meyer's parents were both swimmers. His father, Steve, was a swimmer and diver at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and his mother, Shawn, swam for the University of Georgia. He has one brother, Sam, who is a hockey player. Meyer