Anthony Ervin

Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver medal as a member of the second-place United States relay team in the 4×100-meter freestyle event. He was the second swimmer of African descent after Anthony Nesty of Suriname to win an individual gold medal in Olympic swimming.[1] He is the first United States citizen of African descent to medal gold in an individual Olympic swimming event.[2] In 2017 he knelt for the National Anthem prior to the start of a competition in Brazil.[3][4]

Anthony Ervin
Ervin in 2016
Personal information
Full nameAnthony Lee Ervin
Nickname(s)Tony
National team United States
Born (1981-05-26) May 26, 1981
Santa Clarita, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight176 lb (80 kg)
WebsiteAnthonyErvin.com
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
College teamUniversity of California, Berkeley
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 4×100 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2013 Barcelona 4×100 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 2012 Istanbul 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2012 Istanbul 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Istanbul 50 m freestyle
Pan Pacific Championships
Silver medal – second place 2002 Yokohama 50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2002 Yokohama 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2014 Gold Coast 50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2014 Gold Coast 4×100 m freestyle
Maccabiah Games
Gold medal – first place2017 Israel50 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2017 Israel100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2017 Israel4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place2017 Israel4×100 m freestyle

Ervin stopped swimming competitively at the age of 22 in 2003[5] and auctioned off his 2000 Olympic gold medal on eBay to aid survivors of the 2004 tsunami,[6][7][8] but he began to train again in 2011.[7]

Ervin competed in the 50-meter freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he placed fifth.[9] In the spring of 2016, Akashic Books released Ervin's memoir, Chasing Water, co-authored by Ervin and Constantine Markides.[10] At the 2016 Summer Olympics, 16 years after his first Olympic gold medal, he won the event for the second time, at the age of 35, becoming the oldest individual Olympic gold medal winner in swimming.[11]

Personal life

Ervin is African-American and Jewish,[12][13][14][15] and was born in Hollywood. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent on his mother's side and African-American and Indian-American descent on his father's. He was raised in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California.[7][16][17][18][19] Ervin has described himself as a "Zen Buddhist".[20] He practiced Zen meditation.[21] In July 2017 he said: "I'm proud to be American and I'm proud to be a Jew."[22]

While living in Santa Clarita, he swam for Canyons Aquatic Club, and also competed on Hart High School's swim team.[23] Anthony enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his bachelor's degree in English in 2010.[24]

He is pursuing a graduate degree in sport, culture and education at Berkeley.[7]

As a youth, Ervin had tics that he described "as an itch that constantly [wanted] to be scratched"; as a young adult he would attract negative attention for the symptoms. He attributes his success in the pool to his Tourette syndrome.[25] He states that swimming helped him manage his facial tics when he was young and the condition made him learn how to cope with anxiety from an early age, which benefitted him when he was in the Olympic finals.[26] Ervin was a youth ambassador for the Tourette Association of America from 2017 to 2018.[26][25]

Career

2000: Sydney Summer Olympic Games
See also: Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics

At the 2000 United States Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Ervin competed in two events: the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle. In the finals of the 100-meter freestyle, Ervin finished fifth with a time of 49.29, ensuring him a spot on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[27] In the final of the 50-meter freestyle, Ervin finished second to Gary Hall Jr. with a time of 21.80.[28]

2000 Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place 50 m freestyle 21.98
Silver medal – second place 4x100 m freestyle relay 3:13.86 (AM)

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Ervin won one gold and one silver medal. In his first final, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Ervin teamed up with Gary Hall Jr., Neil Walker and Jason Lezak. Going into the final, the Americans had never lost the event at the Olympics. Ervin swam the leadoff leg in 48.89, the second best lead-off behind Michael Klim's world record time of 48.18. The American team ended up finishing in second place with a time of 3:13.86 behind Australia, who finished in a world record time of 3:13.67.[29] In the final of the 50-meter freestyle, Ervin tied Gary Hall Jr. for the gold with a time of 21.98.[30][31]

After the gold medal race, reporter Jim Gray asked Ervin what it felt like to be the first swimmer of African American descent to win gold. Referring to this moment in a 2012 interview, Ervin stated, "I didn't know a thing about what it was like to be part of the black experience. But now I do. It's like winning gold and having a bunch of old white people ask you what it's like to be black. That is my black experience."[32]

2001–2003: World Championships and Pan Pacs

Ervin won two gold medals at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in the 50-meter freestyle[33] and the 100-meter freestyle.[34] He also competed in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay, but the United States relay team was disqualified.[35] At the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Ervin won silver medals in both the 50-meter freestyle and the 4 x 100 freestyle relay.

2012: Comeback and Summer Olympics
See also: Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Twelve years after competing in his last Olympics as a 19-year-old, Ervin qualified for his second United States Olympic team as a 31-year-old at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, by finishing second in the men's 50-meter freestyle. His time of 21.60 seconds was only one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second behind Cullen Jones (21.59) and also a personal best for Ervin.[36][9] At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he finished fifth in the finals of the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.78 seconds.[37] Ervin made history with Jones and Lia Neal by being the first African-Americans on a U.S. Olympic swim team with more than one African-American swimmer.[19]

2013–14: World Championships and Pan Pacs
Ervin at the 2015 World Championships
See also: Swimming at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2013 US National Championships, Ervin qualified to swim at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona by placing second in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.70, and third in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 48.49.

In his first event at the World Championships, Ervin combined with Nathan Adrian, Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, with the team finishing behind France. Swimming the third leg, Ervin recorded a split of 47.44, and the team finished with a final time of 3:11.44. Ervin's split was the fastest among the Americans.

In his only individual event, the 50-meter freestyle, Ervin entered the final as the second seed with a semi-final time of 21.42, a personal best for him and only 2-hundredths of a second behind the American record. In the final, Ervin finished in 6th place with a time of 21.65.

In 2014, on the Gold Coast, Ervin collected 2 silver medals at the Pan Pacs.

2016 Summer Olympics
See also: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics
2016 Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place 50 m freestyle 21.40
Gold medal – first place 4x100 m freestyle relay 3:09.92

In the 2016 Olympics, Ervin swam the 50 m freestyle, placing 1st in the final with a time of 21.40 seconds. At the age of 35, this made him the oldest individual Olympic gold medal winner in swimming, taking the record from Michael Phelps.[11] He also won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay with United States by swimming in the morning heat.

2017 Maccabiah Games

Ervin took part in the torch lighting ceremony at the 2017 Maccabiah Games on July 6, 2017.[38] He won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle (with a time of 22.05 seconds), the 100-meter freestyle (with a time of 49.76 seconds), and the 4 × 100 m medley relay (with the Americans clocking 3:41.82).[39][40] In the special 4x50m relay race between Israeli and American all-star teams, American Olympic champions Ervin, Lenny Krayzelburg (four Olympic golds), and Jason Lezak (four Olympic golds), with masters swimmer Alex Blavatnik, swam a time of 1:48.23 and defeated Israeli Olympians Guy Barnea, Yoav Bruck, Eran Groumi, and Tal Stricker, who had a time of 1:51.25.[22]

2020 US Olympic Trials

At the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska and held in June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ervin competed in the 50-meter freestyle. He swam a 22.61 in the heats, ranked 23rd overall, and did not qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[41]

Swim clinic at World Championships

The week of competition at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, held at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Ervin conducted a swim clinic with Florian Wellbrock of Germany for young swimmers.[42]

Accolades

In 2003 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[14]

Autobiography

Ervin's memoir was released by Akashic Books in 2016.[10] Co-authored by Ervin and Constantine Markides, Chasing Water received The Buck Dawson Authors Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018.[43]

See also

References
  1. "Black History". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  2. Marable, Rhonda (February 11, 2015). "Making History: Men of African Descent in Swimming". USA Swimming. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  3. Pimer, Diana (October 16, 2017). "Anthony Ervin Makes Statement After Kneeling for National Anthem at Raia Rapida". SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
  4. "Anthony Ervin Discusses Olympic Podium Protests and Rule 50". SwimSwam. May 10, 2021. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
  5. Kelly, Barry (July 6, 2004). "Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Ervin Gives Up Swimming, Fame and Money". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  6. Brady, Erik (June 27, 2012). "Anthony Ervin has no regrets, feels lucky to be at trials". USA Today. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  7. Borzi, Pat (June 28, 2012). "Spreading Joy of Swimming, Ex-Olympian Finds It Again". The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  8. Newberry, Paul (May 18, 2012). "Ervin, Swimming's Mystery Man, Returns to the Pool". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  9. "He's baaack: Anthony Ervin going back to Olympics after finishing 2nd in 50 free at US trials". The Washington Post. Associated Press. July 1, 2012. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  10. Ervin, Anthony; Markides, Constantine (April 5, 2016). Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian. Edge of Sports. ISBN 9781617754449.
  11. Gibbs, Robert (August 12, 2016). "Ervin passes Phelps to become oldest swimmer to win solo gold". Swimswam. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  12. Lipman, Steve (July 17, 2012). "Munich Tragedy, Security Loom Over Olympics". The Jewish Week. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  13. "Jewish Olympian Anthony Ervin Gets Closer to 2nd Gold in 50M Freestyle". Algemeiner.com. August 2, 2012.
  14. "Anthony Ervin - Swimming - 2003". Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  15. Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games. ISBN 9781903900888.
  16. Bloom, Nate (August 19, 2008). "Interfaith Celebrities: Olympic Update". InterfaithFamily.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2011.
  17. Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : with a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871.
  18. Dillman, Lisa (August 14, 2000). "Winning Isn't Only Thing in Men's 100 Freestyle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  19. "Black Swimmers Have Historic Presence in London Olympics". Atlanta Black Star. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  20. Schaller, Bob. "Swimming Heroes - From the past - Anthony Ervin" (PDF). Splash Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2012 – via BobSchaller.com.
  21. Gandhi, Lakshmi (August 15, 2016). "How Zen Buddhism Helped Olympian Anthony Ervin Turn His Life Around". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  22. Sinai, Allon (July 12, 2017). "Records fall as Olympians shine at Maccabiah Games". The Jerusalem Post. "I'm proud to be American and I'm proud to be a Jew. I didn't choose either one and I'm going to stick to the country I was born in," said Ervin with a smile when asked if he would consider making aliyah.
  23. MaNishtana (February 14, 2011). "Today in Black Jewish History Month, Anthony Ervin". manishtana.net. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  24. Crumpacker, John (June 27, 2012). "Anthony Ervin back in swimming after decade off". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  25. Sica, James (June 8, 2017). "Anthony Ervin Working To Empower Youth With Tourette Syndrome". Swimming World. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  26. Martinelli, Michelle (June 6, 2017). "Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin says Tourette Syndrome gave him an advantage in the pool". USA Today Sports. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018.
  27. "2000 US Olympic Team Trials – Men's 100 m freestyle results (final)" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  28. "2000 US Olympic Trials results". omegatiming.com. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  29. "2000 Sydney Olympic Games – Men's 4x100 m freestyle relay results (final)" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  30. "2000 Sydney Olympic Games – Men's 50 m freestyle results (final)" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  31. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Anthony Ervin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
  32. "Olympics 2012: Gold Medal Swimmer Anthony Ervin Is Out to Reclaim His Title". Rolling Stone.
  33. "FINA: 9th World Championships 50m". swimrankings.net. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  34. "FINA: 9th World Championships 100m". swimrankings.net. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  35. "FINA: 9th World Championships 4X100 freestyle". swimrankings.net. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  36. "2012 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER". USA Swimming. July 1, 2012. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  37. "Swimming results". NBC Olympics Coverage. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  38. "Ervin, Gilot To Participate In Torch Lighting At Maccabiah Games". swimswam.com. June 17, 2017.
  39. Sinai, Allon (July 13, 2017). "Ervin wraps up Maccabiah experience with two more gold medals". The Jerusalem Post.
  40. Sinai, Allon (July 9, 2019). "Ervin captures gold in 100-meter freestyle". The Jerusalem Post.
  41. "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 50m Freestyle Results". Omega Timing. June 19, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  42. "Athletes underline commitment to sustainability and legacy in Abu Dhabi". FINA. 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  43. "Anthony Ervin". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
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