Richard Berens (born April 21, 1988) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course). He competed in the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay events, as well as the individual 200-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Berens swam the third leg of the 4×100-meter freestyle preliminaries at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and earned a gold medal when the U.S. team placed first in the final.[5] Berens also swam in both the preliminaries and final of the 4×200-meter freestyle, which won gold.[6] In the final, Berens swam the second leg in 1:44.13, the second fastest split from anyone in the event.[7]
At the 2011 Duel in the Pool, a short course meet featuring the United States and European "All-Stars", Berens won both the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events.
2012 London Olympics
At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Berens made his second Olympic team by finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle and third in the 200-meter freestyle, qualifying him to swim in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, respectively. Although Berens did not qualify to swim in any individual events, Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps's coach, revealed on Twitter that Phelps, who came in first in the 200-meter freestyle, would be scratching the race from his Olympic program, giving the third place Berens a chance to swim his first individual Olympic event.[8]
After the final of the 4×200-meter event, Berens stated that he would retire from competitive swimming following the Olympics.[11][12]
2013 American Short Course Championships
After seven weeks, Berens came out of retirement and returned to the swimming stage. At the 2013 American Short Course Championships, he broke the American record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:31.31), taking his split from the 500-yard freestyle. At the 2013 United States National Championships, Berens finished 5th place in both the 100-meter freestyle and the 200-meter freestyle, qualifying him to swim in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay and 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay.[4]
In November 2013, Berens retired for a second time.[13]
Sponsorships, media coverage, and work roles
In 2008, Berens was interviewed on The Today Show in Beijing after winning gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In 2009 he made an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show, poking fun at himself after a swimsuit malfunction at the 2009 World Championships. In 2011, Berens (alongside his dog) was featured in a print advertisement for Eukanuba that ran in Men's Journal magazine. Berens was also featured in a print advertisement for a Casio watch, which ran in the December 2011 issue of Details magazine.[12]
Berens was sponsored by TYR Swimwear and by BMW's Pro Performance Team. He also appeared in the "Got Milk?" chocolate milk campaign. Berens is represented by Octagon.[12]
After retiring from swimming competition after his second Olympics, Berens worked at the University of Texas athletic department considering a long range future role as an athletic director. Berens then used connections he had at an Austin pet food startup business called Nulo to begin a position managing their business finances, with the goal of improving the rate of Nulo's growth. He enjoyed the position but wanted to work more closely with people. Around 2020, he accepted a position in Business Development at Bridgeport Consulting after interviewing with their Denver Manager, Tommy Hannan, a 2000 U.S. Olympic 4x100 Medley gold medalist, who, like Berens, had also competed in swimming at the University of Texas and majored in Finance.[12]
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