Brendan Joseph Hansen (born August 15, 1981 in
Havertown, Pennsylvania) is an American swimmer who
specializes in the breaststroke. He is 6'0" (183 cm)
tall and weighs 189 lb (86 kg).
Despite setting the world record in the 100 and 200
meter breaststroke at the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials,
he did not manage to win a gold medal in either
event at the 2004 Summer Olympics, as he settled for
silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. He would
win a gold in those games for his role in the
world-record setting 4 x 100 medley relay. His split
on the relay turned out to be one of the fastest in
history.
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Hansen won
gold in the same three events that he participated
in at the 2004 Olympics.
Hansen's well-known for his unique style of
breaststroke, which incorporates a kick that is much
narrower than the other swimmers, including his
biggest rival, Kosuke Kitajima from Japan, who took
gold in both the 100 m and 200 m Breaststroke in
2004 Athens Olympic Games. However, Hansen owns the
long course World Records in both events.
At the 2006 ConocoPhillips National Championships,
Hansen lowered both his world records in the 100
meter and 200 meter breaststroke to 59.13 in the 100
m and 2:08.74 in the 200 m.
At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships held
in Victoria, Canada [1], Hansen again lowered his
world record time in the 200 m breaststroke to
2:08.50. It is notable that he was a quarter of a
second behind his best time at the 150 m mark, but
he came back 0.6 second faster with a 33.38.
Hansen has set numerous NCAA records while swimming
for the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated
in 2005 with a degree in kinesiology.
He was also NCAA Champion in the 100 yard and 200
yard breaststroke events each year of his four year
college career.
