William Diering
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Grant Diering | ||||||||||||||||||
| National team |
 South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
7 May 1986 Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club | TuksSport | ||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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William Grant Diering (born May 7, 1986) is a South African swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events.[1] He finished twelfth in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also set a new South African record (2:06.85) to earn a bronze medal at the FINA World Short Course Championships few months later in Manchester, England.[2]
Diering competed for the South African swimming squad, alongside his teammate Neil Versfeld, in the men's 200 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to the Games, he captured the men's 200 m breaststroke title at the South African Championships in Johannesburg with a new national record of 2:11.88 to assure his selection to the Olympic team under the FINA A-cut (2:13.70) and shave 1.72 seconds off the standard previously set by Terence Parkin in 2000.[3][4] Swimming in heat six, Diering threw down a new African record in 2:10.39 to grab the eighth seed for the semifinals, and then enjoyed his teammate Versfeld joining him to the roster by 0.11 seconds to round out the top four of their heat.[5][6] Followed by the next morning's semifinals, Diering missed the top eight final with a twelfth-place time in 2:10.21, and lost a spirited challenge for another African record feat to Versfeld (2:10.06) by just a small fraction of a second.[7]
Shortly after the Olympics, Diering edged out Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli by nearly two seconds to claim the 200 m breaststroke title at the African Swimming Championships in Johannesburg with a time of 2:16.00.[8]
References
- ↑ "William Diering". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- ↑ "World Short Course Championships: Great Britain's Kristopher Gilchrist Wins 200 Breast". Swimming World Magazine. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ↑ "South African Championships: William Diering, Lize-Mari Retief Break African Records". Swimming World Magazine. 3 April 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ↑ Ballantyne, Tommy (7 April 2008). "Schoeman packs his bags". Post (South Africa). Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ↑ Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Tumbles Twice, Daniel Gyurta Paces Qualifying in 200 Breast". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ↑ "Men's 200m Breaststroke Heat 6". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- ↑ "Men's 200m Breaststroke Semifinal 2". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- ↑ "African Championships: William Diering Claims 200 Breast Title". Swimming World Magazine. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2012.