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Markus Rogan

Markus Rogan (2008)
Personal information
Full name	Markus Antonius Rogan
Nationality	Austria
Stroke(s)	Backstroke
College team	Stanford Cardinal (USA) (2000-2004)
Date of birth	4 May 1982 (1982-05-04) (age 27)
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Medal record Competitor for  Austria Men's swimming Olympic Games Silver Athens 2004[1] 100 m backstroke Silver Athens 2004 200 m backstroke World Championships (LC) Silver 2001 Fukuoka 200 m backstroke Silver 2005 Montreal[2] 200 m backstroke Bronze 2007 Melbourne[3] 200 m backstroke World Championships (SC) Gold 2008 Manchester 200 m backstroke Silver 2006 Shanghai 100 m backstroke Silver 2006 Shanghai 200 m backstroke Silver 2006 Shanghai 200 m individual medley European Championships (LC) Gold 2004 Madrid 200 m backstroke Gold 2004 Madrid 200 m individual medley Gold 2008 Eindhoven 100 m backstroke Gold 2008 Eindhoven 200 m backstroke Silver 2002 Berlin 100 m backstroke Silver 2002 Berlin 200 m backstroke Silver 2004 Madrid 100 m backstroke Silver 2006 Budapest 100 m backstroke Bronze 2002 Berlin 200 m individual medley Bronze 2008 Eindhoven 4×200 m freestyle Summer Universiade Gold 2007 Bangkok 200 m backstroke Silver 2007 Bangkok 100 m backstroke Bronze 2005 Izmir 200 m freestyle

Markus Antonius Rogan (born 4 May 1982 in Vienna) is an Austrian swimmer, who won two silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and a gold medal for 200 m backstroke at the 2008 World Championships in Manchester. He also is the world record holder in 200 metres backstroke (short course).

Rogan's first big international success was a second place finish in the 200 m backstroke at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

In the Olympics in 2004, Rogan placed second in both men's 100 m backstroke and the men's 200 m backstroke, both times behind Aaron Peirsol of the United States. The 200 metre race was controversial as Peirsol was first disqualified but later reinstated as gold medalist.

As a teenager, the 6 ft 5 in tall Rogan swam for Mount Vernon High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, where he trained with the Curl-Burke Swim Club. In July 2000, he cut short his final season of the Northern Virginia Swim League, swimming for the Mansion House Piranhas (of Mount Vernon), and flew to Australia where he competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, failing to advance beyond the heats in the backstroke. He earned a scholarship to attend Stanford University from 2000-2004. On 8 December 2005, in Trieste, Markus set a new world record in the 200 m backstroke for short course swim pools, with 1:50.43. This world record was then broken by American swimmer Ryan Lochte, who lowered the standard to 1:49.05 at the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships in Shanghai, China. Back on the short course in Manchester 2008, Rogan broke the world record again on 13 April 2008, setting the new record with 1:47.84, with Lochte finishing second by seven one-hundredths of a second (also under the old world record). Both swimmers were wearing the new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit.

In an interview with BBC Sport at the 2008 European Championships in Eindoven, The Netherlands, in March 2008, Markus told reporters that he was planning to retire from competitive swimming after the Beijing Olympics in August. Markus won both the 100 and 200 metre backstroke events (long course) at those European Championships.

In the meantime Rogan changed his plans to retire. He will at least swim on a competitive level till the World Championships 2009 in Rome. As he is training in Italy, the event is virtually on homeground and he wants to enjoy the home event with his Italian training partners.

Ironically he hates swimming. He says "I really don't like swimming, it's terrible." He also says that training is boring and that he can't wait to get out of the pool.^[4]

2007-2009 he had a relationship with Austrian beauty queen Christine Reiler.^[5]

External links

• Markus Rogan official website
• Swim Rankings profile

References