User:Sgoldblatt
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| Born | July 12, 1979 Summit, New Jersey |
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Scott Goldblatt (born July 12, 1979 in Summit, New Jersey) is a American swimmer who specialized in the freestyle.
Raised in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Scott first began swimming in the children’s pool at the local swim club. Scott’s rise to elite status was steady. In 1995 at 15 he qualified for his first National Championships and was named Rookie of the Meet. Just two years later, during his senior year at Scotch Plains Fanwood High School, his mother passed away from cancer, but as she would have wanted, Scott kept working at his swimming. Just two months after his mother’s passing, and only two years removed from his first National Championships, he broke into the World Top 50 rankings being 46th in the 200 meter Freestyle. He was also named to the World University Games team where he won both a gold and silver medal.
Scott made the decision to attend the University of Texas and the improvements kept coming. While studying for a degree in Sport Management, Scott swam impressively during his first two years at Texas being named All-America in five events and winning two NCAA relay titles. During these years, though, his progress stagnated at the National level where his times faltered and he finished near the bottom of the pack, and subsequently fell from the World Rankings.
This did not deter Scott, as he continued to persevere and make strides in the classroom towards his degree and train at an elite level. During his junior year at Texas his hard work and dedication began to pay off on a level beyond what he had already experienced. At the NCAA Championships, he again was a member of a NCAA title winning relay for the third straight year, and he helped lead Texas to be NCAA Champions while being named All-America in four events.
Then everything changed in July of 2000. He skyrocketed to the front of the pack when he qualified for the United States Olympic Team. In Sydney, Scott finished ninth in the 200 meter Freestyle and won a Silver medal as a member of the 4x200 Freestyle Relay. After not being ranked for two years in the 200 meter Freestyle, Scott was now ninth in the world and the sixth fastest American ever in the 200.
After returning to Texas, he helped lead the team to another NCAA championship and won a fourth straight relay title while breaking the American Record in the 4x200 Freestyle Relay. Scott then qualified for the 2001 World Championships where he won a Bronze Medal, and finished the year ranked 11th in the 200 Freestyle.
Then, in the fall of 2001, Scott began to struggle in training, and soon learned that he had nerve damage in his left forearm that would require surgery. After being out the water for almost four months, Scott re-entered the pool in late December and had to basically learn how to swim with his left arm again. This was no deterrent, and he decided to compete at the National Championships in March anyway. He proceeded to surprise even himself with a third place finish in the 200 meter Freestyle, and winning his first National Championship in the 400 meter Freestyle at those Championships.
In the summer of 2002, Scott quietly graduated from the University of Texas at the same time he was qualifying for the World Championship Team set to compete in 2003. At the same meet, he just missed qualifying for the Pan Pacific Championships to be held that August, but that pushed Scott even more. At the World Championships, Scott won a Silver medal as a part of the 4x200 Freestyle Relay, and finished the year ranked eighth in world in the 200 meter Freestyle.
After moving to Kansas City in early 2003, everything seemed to be leading up to another stellar Olympic Trials in 2004, and Scott did not disappoint. Even though he was not expected to make the Olympic Team, he quieted any doubters when he finished sixth in the 200 Freestyle, earning him a coveted spot on the 4x200 Freestyle Relay team at the Olympic Games in Athens. In Athens, Scott swam in the preliminaries of the 4x200 Freestyle Relay, and the he eventually went on to win the Olympic Gold Medal as a member of that team.