Robert Griswold is an American swimmer. He was a member of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Teams.[2] He holds multiple American and World swimming records in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and individual medleys.[3] He competes in the Paralympic classes S8/SB7/SM8 and has cerebral palsy that affects coordination and strength.[4]
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1996-11-27) November 27, 1996 (age 25)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Backstroke, freestyle, butterfly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Griswold began swimming at the age of 6 at the Ocean County YMCA. He competed for his high school swimming team and team captain and MVP. Outside of athletics, he earned an Eagle Scout rank and organized a Paralympic Swimming Clinic to educate the community about disabilities and expose individuals to some of the available opportunities.[4] He graduated from Freehold Township High School in 2015.[5] Griswold is from Freehold Borough, New Jersey.
Griswold competed for two NCAA Division II schools, Carson-Newman University and Fresno Pacific University during his NCAA swimming career that began fall 2015.[4] He graduated from Indiana State University with a bachelor's degree in communications.
Griswold competed at his first international meet in 2014 and rose to prominence within the S8 classification initially gaining success in the distance freestyle events, winning his first world championships bronze in 2015.[4]
He followed up his World Championships medals by qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and winning a bronze medal in the 100 m back. He also placed fourth in the 200 m Individual Medley and fifth in the 400 m Freestyle.
In 2016 began an era of dominance in the S8 100m Backstroke, winning the event at the 2017 World Championships and 2019 World Championships. He carried his success into the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games by winning the gold medal by 4.27 seconds and breaking the world record.[4]
At the 2017 World Championships he was the most decorated American male with two gold medals and two silver medals[6] and was honored by being chosen as the flagbearer at the opening ceremonies.[7]
In addition to his gold medal in the 100m backstroke, Griswold won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. He placed fourth in the 200m individual medley and fifth in the 400m freestyle.
At the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships,[8] Griswold claimed his third consecutive title in the 100m backstroke S8. He also claimed world titles in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley. Griswold won silver medals in the 100m freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay 34pts and a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.
Griswold is known to some members of the Para-Swimming community as Swim-a-pedia for his knowledge and memory of Paralympic Swimming statistics and times.[9]
On October 20, 2022, SwimSwam detailed allegations of sexual assault by Griswold. He has been accused of raping and abusing Parker Egbert, a fellow member of the United States Paralympic Team. Egbert, who is intellectually disabled, says that he was groomed by Griswold, and threatened with retaliation.[10] Griswold had previously been suspended by USA Swimming due to allegations of misconduct.[11] He was later removed as a member of the 2022 National Team. [12]
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2016 USA Paralympic swimming team | ||
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Qualification |
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Men's team |
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Women's team |
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2020 USA Paralympic swimming team | ||
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Qualification |
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Men's team |
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Women's team |
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