Full name David Charles Berkoff Weight 70 kg Height 1.75 m | National team United States Role Swimmer Nickname(s) "Dave" Name David Berkoff Education Harvard University | |
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Born November 30, 1966 (age 57) ( 1966-11-30 ) Abington, Pennsylvania Club Upper Moreland Gator Swim Club Similar People Daichi Suzuki, Jeff Rouse, Igor Polyansky, Mark Tewksbury | ||
1988 olympic games swimming men s 100 meter backstroke heats david berkoff usa wr
David Charles "Dave" Berkoff (born November 30, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Berkoff was a backstroke specialist who won a total of four Olympic medals during his career at two different Olympic Games. He is best known for his powerful underwater start, the eponymous "Berkoff Blastoff".
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, he won a gold medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. men's team in the men's 4×100-meter medley relay in the event final. Individually, he also won a silver medal by placing second in the men's 100-meter backstroke event.
Four years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Berkoff earned another gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter medley relay. He also won a bronze medal by placing third in the 100-meter backstroke.
Berkoff was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 2005.