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Ryan Held
Ryan Held (born June 27, 1995) is an American retired freestyle swimmer who specializes in the sprint events, and is currently sponsored by Arena. He holds three world records in short course relay events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relays, swimming in both the prelims and the final of the event. He won a second gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 4×100 meter freestyle relays, though he did not swim in the finals of the event.
In 2021, he won silver medals in the 50 meter freestyle and the 100 meter freestyle at the 2021 World Short Course Championships. At his first FINA World Aquatics Championships, the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay.
He attended Christ the King grade school in Springfield, Illinois, and attended high school at Sacred-Heart Griffin, where he graduated in 2014 and was coached by Dr. James Stegeman. During his senior year in 2014, Held was named Illinois State Swimmer of the Year. During his collegiate years, held attended North Carolina State University where he swam for Coaches Braden Holloway and Todd DeSorbo.
At the 2016 US trials he qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics as a member of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay team. In the Olympic heats, he swam a split time of 47.79 on the second leg, impressing the coaching staff enough to give him the nod to swim in the final. Although Held's time was not as fast as Anthony Ervin’s, head coach Bob Bowman made the decision due to youth since "Younger legs, coming back so quickly". In the final he split 47.73 on the third leg to preserve Team USA's lead, winning the gold medal together with Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian. Held and the other finals relay members won the USA Swimming Foundation Golden Goggle Award for "Relay Performance of the Year" for their performance.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Held won the Gold medal with the American team in the Men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, though he did not swim in the event finals. The American Gold medal relay team swam a combined time of 3:09.28 in the finals without Held. The Australian team placed second for the Silver and the Italian team finished third for the bronze.
At the 2018 World Short Course Championships in Hangzhou, China, Held won four gold medals and one silver medal. In the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, Held anchored the finals relay consisting of him, Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, and Michael Chadwick to a gold medal win in a world record time of 3:03.03. For the 4×50 meter mixed freestyle relay, Held split a 20.60 for the second leg of the relay and helped the finals relay set a new world record and win the gold medal in the event with a finals relay time of 1:27.89. In the final of the 4×50 meter freestyle relay, Held swam the fastest split of his relay teammates, Caeleb Dressel, Jack Conger, and Michael Chadwick, with a time of 20.25 seconds, which helped the relay win the gold medal and set a new world record in the event at 1:21.80. Gold eluded Held in the 4×50 meter medley relay where he swam the freestyle leg of the relay, earned a silver medal, and helped set an American record of 1:30.90 in the final with Ryan Murphy (backstroke), Michael Andrew (breaststroke), and Caeleb Dressel (butterfly). Concluding his competition at the Championships, Held swam the freestyle leg of the 4×100 meter medley relay, splitting a time of 45.23 seconds to help the finals relay win the gold medal and set a new Americas record and Championships record of 3:19.98 in the event.
At the 2019 Phillips 66 Summer National Championships in Stanford, California, Held ranked first in the 100 meter freestyle prelims heats with a time of 47.43 seconds on July 31, which broke the U.S. Open record and Championships record of 47.58 seconds set by Jason Lezak over 11 years earlier on July 2, 2008. Later the same day in the final, Held won the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 47.39 seconds, breaking his own U.S. Open and Championships records he set earlier in the day.
Held entered to compete in the short course 50 meter freestyle and 100 meter freestyle for his individual events at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in December in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. As part of the United States team for the Championships, Held was number two on "The Week That Was" honor for the week of November 1, 2021, from Swimming World. Gaining racing experience in short course meters as preparation for the World Championships, Held competed at the 2021 Ron Johnson Masters Championship in Tempe, Arizona in November, where he swam a 21.28 and broke the Masters world record in the 50 meter freestyle for the 25–29 age group set at 21.37 by César Cielo in 2014.
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Ryan Held
Ryan Held (born June 27, 1995) is an American retired freestyle swimmer who specializes in the sprint events, and is currently sponsored by Arena. He holds three world records in short course relay events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relays, swimming in both the prelims and the final of the event. He won a second gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 4×100 meter freestyle relays, though he did not swim in the finals of the event.
In 2021, he won silver medals in the 50 meter freestyle and the 100 meter freestyle at the 2021 World Short Course Championships. At his first FINA World Aquatics Championships, the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay.
He attended Christ the King grade school in Springfield, Illinois, and attended high school at Sacred-Heart Griffin, where he graduated in 2014 and was coached by Dr. James Stegeman. During his senior year in 2014, Held was named Illinois State Swimmer of the Year. During his collegiate years, held attended North Carolina State University where he swam for Coaches Braden Holloway and Todd DeSorbo.
At the 2016 US trials he qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics as a member of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay team. In the Olympic heats, he swam a split time of 47.79 on the second leg, impressing the coaching staff enough to give him the nod to swim in the final. Although Held's time was not as fast as Anthony Ervin’s, head coach Bob Bowman made the decision due to youth since "Younger legs, coming back so quickly". In the final he split 47.73 on the third leg to preserve Team USA's lead, winning the gold medal together with Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian. Held and the other finals relay members won the USA Swimming Foundation Golden Goggle Award for "Relay Performance of the Year" for their performance.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Held won the Gold medal with the American team in the Men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, though he did not swim in the event finals. The American Gold medal relay team swam a combined time of 3:09.28 in the finals without Held. The Australian team placed second for the Silver and the Italian team finished third for the bronze.
At the 2018 World Short Course Championships in Hangzhou, China, Held won four gold medals and one silver medal. In the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, Held anchored the finals relay consisting of him, Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, and Michael Chadwick to a gold medal win in a world record time of 3:03.03. For the 4×50 meter mixed freestyle relay, Held split a 20.60 for the second leg of the relay and helped the finals relay set a new world record and win the gold medal in the event with a finals relay time of 1:27.89. In the final of the 4×50 meter freestyle relay, Held swam the fastest split of his relay teammates, Caeleb Dressel, Jack Conger, and Michael Chadwick, with a time of 20.25 seconds, which helped the relay win the gold medal and set a new world record in the event at 1:21.80. Gold eluded Held in the 4×50 meter medley relay where he swam the freestyle leg of the relay, earned a silver medal, and helped set an American record of 1:30.90 in the final with Ryan Murphy (backstroke), Michael Andrew (breaststroke), and Caeleb Dressel (butterfly). Concluding his competition at the Championships, Held swam the freestyle leg of the 4×100 meter medley relay, splitting a time of 45.23 seconds to help the finals relay win the gold medal and set a new Americas record and Championships record of 3:19.98 in the event.
At the 2019 Phillips 66 Summer National Championships in Stanford, California, Held ranked first in the 100 meter freestyle prelims heats with a time of 47.43 seconds on July 31, which broke the U.S. Open record and Championships record of 47.58 seconds set by Jason Lezak over 11 years earlier on July 2, 2008. Later the same day in the final, Held won the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 47.39 seconds, breaking his own U.S. Open and Championships records he set earlier in the day.
Held entered to compete in the short course 50 meter freestyle and 100 meter freestyle for his individual events at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in December in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. As part of the United States team for the Championships, Held was number two on "The Week That Was" honor for the week of November 1, 2021, from Swimming World. Gaining racing experience in short course meters as preparation for the World Championships, Held competed at the 2021 Ron Johnson Masters Championship in Tempe, Arizona in November, where he swam a 21.28 and broke the Masters world record in the 50 meter freestyle for the 25–29 age group set at 21.37 by César Cielo in 2014.