Bears' Second-Place 400 Medley Relay at Purdue Invitational
Honors & Awards
• School Record Holder - 500 Free - 4:23.28 - March 7, 2013
• 2012 Olympian
• 2012-13 All-MAC First Team
• MSU Athletics Director's Honor Roll - Spring 2013, Fall 2012
2012-13: Earned All-MAC First Team distinction in his first season with the Bears...Ranked in the nation's top 100 in the 500 free (97th); also ranked in the top 200 in the 200 free (110th) and 100 free (161st)...Achieved NCAA `B' cuts in both the 200 and 500 free...Recorded three top-5 finishes in his individual events at the 2013 MAC Championships...Set a new MSU varsity record in the 500 free with a prelims time of 4:23.28; was top seed heading into finals; finished fourth overall in Thursday's 500 free A-Final...Raced to another top seed after the 200 free prelims on Day 2; dropped time in finals for a career best (1:36.82) and was MSU's highest finisher with fourth place...Dropped an entire second off previous top time in100 free prelims (44.46); captured first individual medal with a runner-up finish (44.68) behind Buffalo senior Matt Hogan...Was a key contributor on the Bears' conference relays; anchored the 800 free relay and helped MSU capture its first relay win since 2010; had the second fastest relay split (19.63) of any team in the Bears' second-place 200 free relay; added another sub-20 second split (19.88) anchoring the runner-up 200 medley relay; split 43.79 to anchor the 400 free relay on the final day...Finished the season on the Bears' all-time top-five list in the 100 free (5th), 200 free (3rd) and 500 free (1st).
London 2012 Summer Olympics: Learned of his Olympic bid on July 9, 2012...Was one of 46 athletes on the Latvian Olympic squad participating in 12 different sports...Only male swimmer on the Latvian Olympic team...Became the third MSU male swimmer to compete at the Olympics...Turned in a 100-meter freestyle personal best (49.96) on Day 4 of the swimming prelims at the Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park; broke the 50-second barrier for the first time in his career; finished 30th out of 56 participants; less than a second away from a top-16 finish and a spot in the semifinals; was the youngest athlete to finish in the top 30.
Background: A freestyle swimmer from Valmiera, Latvia...Swam for Valmieras BSS...One of the top-ranked freestylers in Latvia...In 2012, placed third overall in the 100-meter freestyle (50.18) at the European Junior Championships...Recorded numerous lifetime bests in 2011...Participated in several international swim meets including the 2011 European Junior Championships, the International Sprint Festival and the 87th Latvian Swimming Championships.
