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Simon Andrew Burnett, born April 14, 1983, in Oxford, England, is a world-class British swimmer.
Burnett holds 3 British records across the board in freestyle events, which is unprecedented for a British swimmer; they were all broken at the ASA National Championships in 2005. He trains in Arizona and swims for the Arizona Wildcats.
Burnett lived in the Oxfordshire village of Chinnor as a child, and then moved a few miles to Tetsworth, attending Lord Williams's School in Thame, Oxfordshire. After completing his GCSEs, he went to John Hampden Grammar School, in High Wycombe, to study chemistry, biology, and physics at A-leve
Simon Andrew Burnett, born April 14, 1983, in Oxford, England, is a world-class British swimmer.
Burnett holds 3 British records across the board in freestyle events, which is unprecedented for a British swimmer; they were all broken at the ASA National Championships in 2005. He trains in Arizona and swims for the Arizona Wildcats.
Burnett lived in the Oxfordshire village of Chinnor as a child, and then moved a few miles to Tetsworth, attending Lord Williams's School in Thame, Oxfordshire. After completing his GCSEs, he went to John Hampden Grammar School, in High Wycombe, to study chemistry, biology, and physics at A-level. He first swam at Wycombe District Swimming Pool from very a young age, and soon joined the Wycombe District Swimming Club, where he remained until 2003.
Burnett began competing at an international level in 2000 at the 3 Nations Junior International. At the ASA National Championships, he won gold in the 50 m backstroke in 2001 and 2002. On the advice of his coach Bob Pay, Burnett switched to swim freestyle in 2003 and began to excel. His television debut was in 2002 at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the 4x200 freestyle relay and won a bronze medal. The following Olympic Games saw Simon finish 7th in the 200 m freestyle, and he competed in the 4x200 freestyle relay team, which finished 4th.
2005 was probably his best year yet, returning to England as well for the ASA National Championships. He won 3 gold medals in the 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m freestyle. All of which were new British records. In the United States, he also broke the 17-year old record for the 200y freestyle set by Matt Biondi at 1:33.03; Burnett swam a 1:32.22.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Burnett competed in the 200 m freestyle and won silver with a time of 1:47.38. Simon was also part of the relay team in the 4x100 m freestyle, managing to come fourth, with the South African favourites taking gold. However, the most sensational race was the 4x200 m freestyle, when the English team, won the gold medal, nudging Scotland into second place and Australia into third. The next day, he stormed to individual gold in the 100 m freestyle, leaving the South African entrants Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman into second and third respectively. With a time of 48.57s, he set a Commonwealth Games record and broke his own British record by eleven-hundredths of a second.
Before the Commonwealth Games had ended, Burnett was off to Atlanta for the 2006 NCAA Championships. Swimming for Arizona, Simon won bronze in the 50y freestyle, silver in the 4x50y freestyle relay, and gold in the 4x50y medley relay. His brightest moment came in the 200y freestyle, winning gold and breaking the US open record, with a time of 1:31.20.
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