Yves Platel (born December 7, 1977) is a Swiss former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), and currently holds four Swiss records in long-distance freestyle (800 and 1500 m) and the 400 m individual medley. Platel is a member of Genève Natation 1885 in Geneva, and is coached and trained by Dirk Reinecke.
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Yves Platel |
National team | ![]() |
Born | (1977-12-07) 7 December 1977 (age 44) Lausanne, Switzerland |
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) |
Weight | 77 kg (170 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Freestyle, medley |
Club | Genève Natation 1885 |
Coach | Dirk Reinicke |
Platel made his first Swiss team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. There, he failed to advance into the succeeding round in any of his individual events, finishing twenty-eighth in the 200 m individual medley (2:05.19), and eighteenth in the 400 m individual medley (4:22.38).[2][3]
In 2001, Platel posted a lifetime best and a short-course Swiss record of 4:11.70 to pull off a sixth-place effort in the 400 m individual medley at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.[4]
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, shortened his program by qualifying only for the 400 m individual medley. He cleared a FINA B-standard entry time of 4:23.16 from the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.[5][6] He challenged seven other swimmers on the second heat, including Olympic veteran Kim Bang-hyun of South Korea. He edged Latvia's Guntars Deičmans to take a sixth spot by 0.23 of a second in 4:28.94. Platel failed to advance into the final, as he placed twenty-ninth overall on the first day of preliminaries.[7][8][9]