| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Clarke |
| Nickname | "Brampton Bullet" |
| National team |  Canada |
| Born | (1973-07-21)July 21, 1973 (age 51) Sutton Coldfield,Warwickshire,England |
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 91 kg (201 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Butterfly,freestyle |
| Club | City of Brampton (COBRA) |
| College team | University of Florida |
Medal record | |
Stephen Clarke (born July 21, 1973) is a Canadian former competitionswimmer and Olympic bronze medallist.
Clarke was born inSutton Coldfield, England,[1] and emigrated to Canada at an early age. He swam for the COBRA swim club inBrampton, Ontario, where he was the first member of the club to make the national team.[2]
Clarke had a distinguished international swimming career, representing Canada at two Summer Olympics and a Commonwealth Games. At the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, he won a bronze medal by anchoring the Canadian team in themen's 4×100-metre medley, swimming withMark Tewksbury,Jonathan Cleveland, andMarcel Gery.[1] He swam in multiple events at the1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, winning a gold medal in the men's 100-metre freestyle (50.21 seconds), a silver in the 100-metre butterfly (54.45 seconds), and a second silver for anchoring Canada's second-place relay team in the 4x100-metre medley relay (3:43.25), together with teammatesChris Renaud, Jon Cleveland, andRobert Braknis.[3] At the1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Clarke qualified for the event finals of themen's 100-metre butterfly, finishing seventh with a time of 53.3 seconds.[1]
After the 1992 Olympics, Clarke accepted an athletic scholarship to attend theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for theFlorida Gators swimming and diving team from 1993 to 1995, and again in 1997.[4] As a Gator swimmer, Clarke won two individualSoutheastern Conference (SEC) championships, and was a member of five SEC championship relay teams.[4] He earned twenty-threeAll-American honors, and was twice recognized as the team's most valuable swimmer (1995, 1997).[4] After taking a year off from university to train full-time for the 1996 Summer Olympics, he returned for his final year of NCAA competition and graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science in 1997.
He was inducted into Brampton Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame in 1992.[2]
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