 Stewart in 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Melvin Monroe Stewart Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Mel" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1968-11-18)November 18, 1968 (age 56) Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S.[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Fort Mill, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 183 lb (83 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Butterfly,freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Tennessee[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Melvin Monroe Stewart Jr. (born November 18, 1968) is an Americanswimming promoter, former competition swimmer and world record-holder who won two gold medals and one bronze medal at the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He is the co-founder and publisher of the swimming news website,SwimSwam, and a producer-director of commercials through his company, Gold Medal Media.
Stewart was born inGastonia, North Carolina and raised inFort Mill, South Carolina.[1][2] He began swimming competitively at the Johnston Memorial YMCA inCharlotte, North Carolina.[2]
He attendedFort Mill High School until partway through his junior year at the school. That year, he switched high schools toMercersburg Academy inMercersburg, Pennsylvania after a sponsor paid Stewart's tuition expenses.[1] At Mercersburg, he was coached byJohn Trembley.[3]
Collegiately, he competed for theUniversity of Tennessee, where he was again coached by John Trembley.[1]
At the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul,South Korea, Stewart placed fifth in themen's 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:59.19.[4] The 1988 Olympics were the firstOlympic Games Stewart competed in, qualifying for the event when he was 20 years old.[2]
Following Seoul, Stewart began dominating the event. At the1987,1989, and1991 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Stewart won gold in the 200-meter butterfly. At the1991 World Championships in Perth, Stewart won gold in the 200-meter butterfly, and set the world record with a time of 1:55.69.
At the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona,Spain, Stewart won the200-meter butterfly in an Olympic record time of 1:56.26.[5] Stewart also won gold in the4×100-meter medley relay by swimming in the prelims, and a bronze in the4×200-meter freestyle relay.[6][7]
When Stewart did not qualify for the1996 Summer Olympics at theUS Olympic Trials, he still attended the Olympic Games, this time as an analyst forABC instead of as a swimmer. After the 1996 Summer Olympics, Stewart hosted a season of a television show titled "American Outback" onESPN. He spent the next decade doing contract work writingscreenplays.[2]
In 2006, Stewart joined a team launching a new swimming news website throughUSA Swimming namedSwimNetwork.com. His focus was bringing people to the website and managing the flow oftraffic for the website.
Two years later, he began serving an ambassador to the United States Swimming Foundation, where one of his focuses since 2008 has been managingalumni of the US national team.[8]
By 2010, Stewart wasblogging and hosting an interview show.[2] Not long after, USA Swimming shutSwimNetwork.com down, and Stewart started a new joint venture of his own.[8]
In 2011, Stewart and a team of co-founders, including his wife Tiffany, Braden Keith, Gary Hall Jr., Garrett McCaffrey, and Rich Roll, founded the swimming news websiteSwimSwam. The website was launched on March 7, 2012, and a print magazine followed in 2016.[9][10]
Stewart and his wife Tiffany moved toAustin, Texas in 2009. Previously, they had been living in California.[9] SwimSwam was headquartered in Austin in part because Stewart and his wife lived there.[10]
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Men's 200-meter butterfly world record-holder (long course) January 12, 1991 – June 14, 1995 | Succeeded by |
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