David Berkoff
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| Full name | David Charles Berkoff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | "Dave" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  United States |
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| Born | November 30, 1966 Abington, Pennsylvania |
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| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 154 lb (70 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Upper Moreland Gator Swim Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Harvard University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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David Charles Berkoff (born November 30, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Berkoff was a backstroke specialist who won a total of four Olympic medals during his career at two different Olympic Games. He is best known for his powerful underwater start, the eponymous "Berkoff Blastoff".
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, he won a gold medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. men's team in the men's 4×100-meter medley relay in the event final. Individually, he also won a silver medal by placing second in the men's 100-meter backstroke event.
Four years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Berkoff earned another gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter medley relay. He also won a bronze medal by placing third in the 100-meter backstroke.
Berkoff was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 2005.[1]
See also
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
- World record progression 100 metres backstroke
- World record progression 4 × 100 metres medley relay
References
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- David Berkoff – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
- David Berkoff (USA) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Men's 100-meter backstroke world record-holder (long course) August 12, 1988 – August 25, 1991 |
Succeeded by Jeff Rouse |
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- ↑ International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees, David Berkoff (USA). Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- Pages with reference errors
- Pages using Infobox sportsperson with module2 parameter
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- Pages using infobox swimmer with national team parameter
- 1966 births
- Living people
- American male backstroke swimmers
- Former world record holders in swimming
- Harvard Crimson swimmers
- International Swimming Hall of Fame inductees
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- Olympic silver medalists for the United States
- Olympic medalists in swimming
- Olympic swimmers of the United States
- People from Missoula, Montana
- People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Swimmers at the 1987 Pan American Games
- Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- William Penn Charter School alumni
