Roland Schoeman

Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 3 July 1980) is a South African and American former swimmer was a world record holder in multiple events, and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. He won a gold medal representing South Africa in the 4x100 freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics and between 2000-2014 won numerous medals including seven golds in freestyle, and butterfly events at the World Championships, Pan American, and Commonwealth games.

Early life and overview

Born in Pretoria on July 3, 1980, Schoeman first took an interest in the sport when he was 13, and began to compete three years later. He said he began swimming only to impress a girl he met. He attended Pretoria's Willow Ridge High School, where he trained under coach Gavin Ross. In 1998, shortly before beginning college at the University of Arizona, he finished sixth in the 50 and 100 meter freestyles at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. In his career he would attain a gold, silver and bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games; three gold, a silver and a bronze medal in the World Championships, as well as four gold, three silvers and three bronzes at the Commonwealth Games. He set new South African records in the 100 m Freestyle (48.69 s), 50 m Freestyle (22.04 s), 100 m Butterfly (52.73 s) and 50 m Butterfly (23.65 s) events.

University of Arizona

Schoeman attended the University of Arizona on a swimming scholarship between 1998-2002,

In 2000, at the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Minnesota, while swimming as a Sophomore, Schoeman tied the short course world record in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.31. While at Arizona in 2002, he again won the NCAA Championship in the 50-meter freestyle, in addition to capturing several runner-up finishes and multiple All-American honors. Roland would later became the first person ever to record a time of less than 21 seconds in the 50 meter freestyle.

Career

Schoeman competed for South Africa in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 50-meter freestyle placing eleventh and the 100 meter freestyle event placing fifteenth, as well as the 4x100 meter freestyle relay where his team placed eleventh.

In his most memorable event at the 2004 games, Schoeman helped South Africa upset the Netherlands and the dominant United States in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay, an historic upset. The 2004 4x100 meter Olympic gold medal South African relay team consisted of Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend, and Ryk Neethling. As one of the events faster swimmers, Schoeman's opening leg in the 4x100 freestyle relay opened up a lead that remained throughout the race defeating the second place Netherlands teams by a second and defeating the United States team which took the bronze. Ryk Neethling swam the fastest time of the South African 4x100 relay team in the final heat and insured the South African win, despite a close finish.

2006 Commonwealth games

Three of the Men's 4x100 metre Freestyle team at the 2004 Olympics were in the team that broke the record and won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He also claimed golds at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.

After his elite swimming career ended, he competed in the 1 Mile Flowers Sea Swim at the Cayman Islands in June 2018, finishing with a time of 24:05. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed FINA's decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). After a lengthy process, it was publicly reported in September 2022 that CAS had ruled the ban should be increased to two years, effectively extending his ineligibility until May 2021.

Life after swimming career

Following his swimming career in May 2022, he also became a citizen of the United States.

Roland has been a licensed realtor in Arizona since 2021.

In 2023 he was part of the Enhanced Games athletes advisory commission.

Records

Schoeman was the former individual world record holder in the Long Course Meters 50 butterfly, Short Course Meters 50 freestyle, Short Course Meters 100 freestyle, and Short Course Meters 100 individual medley. On 6 September 2008, Schoeman set a new short course meters (25 m pool) world record of 20.64 for a 50-meter swim at South African Nationals. He lost his world record in late 2008 but regained it in August 2009. At the South Africa Short Course Championships, Schoeman recorded a time of 20.30 seconds for the 50-meter event, which was broken in 2014 by Florent Manaudou. Overall, Schoeman has broken three long course world records with two individual, and one relay, and six individual short course world records.

In 2007, he received the South African Presidential Award Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, awarded for excellent achievements in the field of swimming.

In 2004 he was inducted into the University of Pretoria Sport Hall of fame.

In 2007 he was inducted into the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.

In August, 2024, he was inducted into the South Africa Sports Hall of Fame, along with the three other swimmers who won the gold medal in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics.