Mathieu Fonteyn
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Mathieu Fonteyn |
| National team |
.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
| Born |
14 February 1985 Leuven, Belgium |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle, butterfly |
| Club | Bruges ZK[1] |
| Coach | Rik Valcke[1] |
Mathieu Fonteyn (born February 14, 1985) is a Belgian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events.[2][1] He represented his nation Belgium at the 2008 Summer Olympics, placing himself among the top 20 swimmers with an illustrious Belgian record in the 200 m butterfly.[3] Fonteyn trained under the tutelage of the national team's assistant coach Rik Valcke at a local swimming club in Bruges until his abrupt retirement shortly before London 2012 due to sustained injuries.[4][5]
Fonteyn competed for the Belgian swimming squad in the men's 200 m butterfly at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to the Games, he placed fourth in the top-eight final at the European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands with an Olympic A-cut time of 1:56.86.[6][7] Fonteyn blasted a new Belgian record of 1:56.65 to obtain the seventh spot and nineteenth overall in the last of six preliminary heats, narrowly missing out the top 16 semifinal by just sixth hundredths of a second (0.06) and trailing all-time Olympian and eventual world record holder Michael Phelps, who competed in the same race as Fonteyn, by nearly three seconds.[8][9]
References
- 1 2 3 "Mathieu Fonteyn". Beijing 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- ↑ "Mathieu Fonteyn". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ↑ "Mathieu Fonteyn zwemt Belgisch record, maar plaatst zich niet" [Mathieu Fonteyn swam with a Belgian record, but failed to advance] (in Dutch). Het Belang van Limburg. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ↑ Lingier, Danny (24 July 2008). "Rik Valcke met Brian Ryckeman en Mathieu Fonteyn naar Peking" [Rik Valcke joins Brian Ryckeman and Mathieu Fonteyn in Beijing] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ↑ "Mathieu Fonteyn moet geblesseerd punt zetten achter zwemcarrière" [Mathieu Fonteyn injured; his swimming career is about to end] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
- ↑ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Men's 200m Butterfly" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 36. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ↑ "Belgen in Peking. Mathieu Fonteyn" [Belgian in Beijing: Mathieu Fonteyn] (in Dutch). De Standaard. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ↑ "Swimming: Men's 200m Butterfly – Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ↑ "OS Zwemmen: Mathieu Fonteyn breekt BR op de 200m vlinder" [Mathieu Fonteyn breaks the Belgian record in the 200 m butterfly] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2016.