"THE FLYING FINN"and WORLD CHAMPION,JANI SIEVINEN from FINLAND

Jani Sievinen

Jani Sievinen

Jani Sievinen in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Jani Nikanor Sievinen
Nationality	Finland
Stroke(s)	Backstroke and medley
Club	Nummelan Kisaajat
Date of birth	31 March 1974 (age 35)(1974-03-31)
Place of birth	Vihti
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Medal record[show] Men’s swimming Competitor for Finland Olympic Games Silver 1996 Atlanta 200 m medley World Championships (LC) Gold 1994 Rome 200 m medley Silver 1994 Rome 400 m medley World Championships (SC) Gold 1999 Hong Kong 100 m medley Gold 2000 Athens 200 m medley Gold 2000 Athens 400 m medley Gold 2002 Moscow 200 m medley Silver 2000 Athens 100 m medley Silver 2002 Moscow 100 m medley European Championships (LC) Gold 1993 Sheffield 200 m medley Gold 1995 Vienna 200 m freestyle Gold 1995 Vienna 200 m medley Gold 1995 Vienna 400 m medley Gold 2002 Berlin 200 m medley Silver 1993 Sheffield 400 m medley Silver 2004 Madrid 200 m medley Bronze 1997 Seville 200 m medley Bronze 1999 Istanbul 200 m medley European Championships (SC) Gold 1991 Gelsenkirchen 50 m backstroke Gold 1992 Espoo 50 m backstroke Gold 1998 Sheffield 100 m medley

Jani Nikanor Sievinen ( pronunciation (help·info); born 31 March 1974 in Vihti) is a former medley swimmer from Finland, who won the silver medal in the 200 m individual medley at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Together with Antti Kasvio he was Finland's leading swimmer in the 1990s, thanks to his father Esa Sievinen who made him one of the most versatile swimmers in the world.

He won his first title in long course, at the 1993 European Swimming Championships in Sheffield, and became world champion one year later, at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy in the 200 m individual medley. Sievinen competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1992.

At the European Short Course Swimming Championships 2006 in Helsinki the four-time World and twelve-time European Champion concluded his 16-year international career which started with the 50 m backstroke gold medal at the European Sprint Championships in Gelsenkirchen (GER) in 1991. Called “Mr Swimming Finland“ in his home country, he is focusing on winning a further and last medal at the upcoming Continental Championships.

The highlight in Sievinen’s career were the 1994 FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome at the age of 20. He not only gained his only world title on long course in 200 m medley over 1:58.16 minutes but also set a world record that stood of almost nine years before it was broken by the then shooting star Michael Phelps (USA) in 2003. On short course, Sievinen was the fastest swimmer in the World in the 200 m medley for more than twelve years (1992–2004).

[edit] References

• Personal website
• sports-reference

Records
Preceded by Tamás Darnyi	Men's 200 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) 13 January 1991 – 29 June 2003	Succeeded by Michael Phelps
Preceded by Incumbent	Men's 100 metre individual medley world record holder (short course) 23 January 1996 – 18 March 2000	Succeeded by Neil Walker
Preceded by Incumbent	Men's 200 metre individual medley world record holder (short course) 17 January 1992 – 23 March 2000	Succeeded by Attila Czene
Preceded by Luca Sacchi	Men's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (short course) 9 February 1993 – 1 February 1997	Succeeded by Marcel Wouda
Awards
Preceded by Juha Kankkunen	Finnish Sportspersonality of the year 1994	Succeeded by Jari Litmanen

[show] v • d • e World Long Course Champions in Men's 200 m Individual Medley 1973: Gunnar Larsson (SWE) • 1975: Andras Hargitay (HUN) • 1978: Graham Smith (CAN) • 1982: Aleksandr Sidorenko (URS) • 1986: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1991: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1994: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1998: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 2001: Massimiliano Rosolino (USA) • 2003: Michael Phelps (USA) • 2005: Michael Phelps (USA) • 2007: Michael Phelps (USA) • 2009: Ryan Lochte (USA)

[show] v • d • e World Short Course Champions in Men's 100 m Individual Medley 1999: Jani Sievinen (FIN) · 2000: Neil Walker (USA) · 2002: Peter Mankoč (SLO) · 2004: Peter Mankoč (SLO) · 2006: Ryk Neethling (RSA) · 2008: Ryan Lochte (USA)

[show] v • d • e World Short Course Champions in Men's 200 m Individual Medley 1993: Christian Keller (GER) · 1995: Matthew Dunn (AUS) · 1997: Matthew Dunn (AUS) · 1999: Matthew Dunn (AUS) · 2000: Jani Sievinen (FIN) · 2002: Jani Sievinen (FIN) · 2004: Thiago Pereira (BRA) · 2006: Ryan Lochte (USA) · 2008: Ryan Lochte (USA)

[show] v • d • e World Short Course Champions in Men's 400 m Individual Medley 1993: Curtis Myden (CAN) · 1995: Matthew Dunn (AUS) · 1997: Matthew Dunn (AUS) · 1999: Matthew Dunn (AUS) · 2000: Jani Sievinen (FIN) · 2002: Tom Wilkens (USA) · 2004: Oussama Mellouli (TUN) · 2006: Ryan Lochte (USA) · 2008: Ryan Lochte (USA)

[show] v • d • e European Champions in Men's 200 m Freestyle 1970: Hans Fassnacht (FRG) • 1974: Peter Nocke (FRG) • 1977: Peter Nocke (FRG) • 1981: Sergey Kopliakov (URS) • 1983: Michael Gross (FRG) • 1985: Michael Gross (FRG) • 1987: Anders Holmertz (SWE) • 1989: Giorgio Lamberti (ITA) • 1991: Artur Wojdat (POL) • 1993: Antti Kasvio (FIN) • 1995: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1997: Paul Palmer (GBR) • 1999: Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED) • 2000: Massimiliano Rosolino (ITA) • 2002: Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED) • 2004: Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED) • 2006: Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED) • 2008: Paul Biedermann (GER)

[show] v • d • e European Champions in Men's 200 m Individual Medley 1970: Gunnar Larsson (SWE) • 1974: David Wilkie (GBR) • 1977: András Hargitay (HUN) • 1981: Aleksandr Sidorenko (URS) • 1983: Giovanni Franceschi (ITA) • 1985: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1987: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1989: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1991: Lars Sørensen (DEN) • 1993: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1995: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1997: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 1999: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 2000: Massimiliano Rosolino (ITA) • 2002: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 2004: Markus Rogan (AUT) • 2006: László Cseh (HUN) • 2008: László Cseh (HUN)

[show] v • d • e European Champions in Men's 400 m Individual Medley 1962: Gennadiy Androsov (URS) • 1966: Frank Wiegand (GDR) • 1970: Gunnar Larsson (SWE) • 1974: András Hargitay (HUN) • 1977: Sergey Fesenko (URS) • 1981: Sergey Fesenko (URS) • 1983: Giovanni Franceschi (ITA) • 1985: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1987: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1989: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1991: Luca Sacchi (ITA) • 1993: Tamás Darnyi (HUN) • 1995: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1997: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 1999: Frederik Hviid (ESP) • 2000: István Batházi (HUN) • 2002: Alessio Boggiatto (ITA) • 2004: László Cseh (HUN) • 2006: László Cseh (HUN) • 2008: László Cseh (HUN)

[show] v • d • e European Short Course Champions in Men's 50 m Backstroke 1991 – 1992: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1993: Patrick Hermanspann (GER) • 1994: Jirka Letzin (GER) • 1996: Mariusz Siembida (POL) • 1998: Thomas Rupprath (GER) • 1999: Miro Zeravica (CRO) • 2000: Ante Masković (CRO) • 2001: Stev Theloke (GER) • 2002 – 2005: Thomas Rupprath (GER) • 2006: Helge Meeuw (GER) • 2007: Thomas Rupprath (GER) • 2008 – 2009: Stanislav Donets (RUS)

[show] v • d • e European Short Course Champions in Men's 100 m Individual Medley 1991: Josef Hladký (TCH) • 1992: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1993: Ron Dekker (NED) • 1994: Denislav Kalchev (BUL) • 1996: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 1998: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 1999: Jens Kruppa (GER) • 2000 – 2002: Peter Mankoč (SLO) • 2003: Peter Mankoč (SLO) and Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 2004 – 2008: Peter Mankoč (SLO) • 2009: Duje Draganja (CRO)

[show] v • d • e European Short Course Champions in Men's 200 m Individual Medley 1996: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 1998: James Hickman (GBR) • 1999: Marcel Wouda (NED) • 2000: Massimiliano Rosolino (ITA) • 2001: Peter Mankoč (SLO) • 2002 – 2003: Jani Sievinen (FIN) • 2004: Markus Rogan (AUT) • 2005 – 2007: László Cseh (HUN) • 2008: James Goddard (GBR) • 2009: Markus Rogan (AUT)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jani_Sievinen"

Categories: 1974 births | Living people | People from Vihti | Olympic swimmers of Finland | Finnish swimmers | Backstroke swimmers | Medley swimmers | Olympic silver medalists for Finland | Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Former world record holders in swimming