Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner (born 21 September 1984 in
San Francisco, California) is a competitive swimmer
and was until recently a member of the Stanford Mens
Swim team.
Ben was born in San Francisco to parents Michael
Tobriner and Stephanie Wildman. He grew up in San
Francisco with his parents and older sister, Rebecca
"Becky" Wildman-Tobriner (DOB November 25, 1980). He
began his career swimming for a local recreational
team in the Marin Swim League until the age of 12.
Even at that age, he managed to set several team,
pool and league records and become recognized for
his talents. Around the age of 12, he joined the Fog
City Hammerheads Swim Team under the instruction of
the notable coach, Matthew "Berto" Roberto. He
attended Lick-Wilmerding High School where he was a
four-year varsity swimmer. While in high school he
received numerous All-American awards for swimming
excellence, as well as setting the California North
Coast Sectional record in the 50-yard freestyle and
achieving the second fastest time for a 17-18
year-old male in the 50-meter freestyle in the
United States. After graduating Lick-Wilmerding, Ben
attended Stanford where, as well as swimming all
four years, he graduated in 2007 as a Biomechanical
Engineer.
Ben is most famous for his achievements in the
50-meter freestyle. In the spring on 2007, Ben
competed in the World Championships where he won the
50-meter freestyle in a time of 21.88 seconds. He
also has the current American Record in the 50-yard
freestyle with a time of 18.87 seconds. He currently
has 1 NCAA gold medal for the 400 Medley Relay
(2005) as well as more than a dozen All-Americans
and Pac-10 championships.
It has been a long-standing tradition for fans to
bring small Post-it note signs to cheer him on at
competitions.
