Tam Chi-kin

Tam Chi-kin
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Tam Chi-kin
National team Hong Kong
Born (1980-07-28) 28 July 1980 (age 44)
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
ClubSLA Sports Club
CoachAnthony Giorgi (AUS)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Tan.

Daniel Tam Chi-kin (also Tam Chi-kin, Chinese: 譚智健; pinyin: Tán Zhìjiàn; Jyutping: taam4 zi3gin6; born July 28, 1980) is a Hong Kong former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), and a double finalist in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.[2][3] Tam is a member of the swimming team for SLA Sports Club, and is trained by an Australian-born coach Anthony Giorgi.[4]

Tam made his first Hong Kong squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he competed in the 200 m breaststroke. Swimming in heat three, he edged out Costa Rica's Juan José Madrigal to take a seventh spot and forty-second overall by 0.45 of a second in 2:24.04.[5]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tam extended his program, competing both in the 100 and 200 breaststroke as Hong Kong's only male swimmer. He posted FINA B-standard entry times of 1:04.35 (100 m breaststroke) and 2:18.10 (200 m breaststroke) from the Olympic trials in Auckland.[6][7] On the first day of the Games, Tam raced to a strong time of 1:05.11 to lead the second heat of the 100 m breaststroke, but came up short with a forty-fourth-place effort from the morning preliminaries.[8][9] In his second event, 200 m breaststroke, Tam challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including dual citizen Mihail Alexandrov of Bulgaria. He rounded out the field to last place by 0.23 of a second behind New Zealand's Ben Labowitch in 2:19.48. Tam failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-second overall in the preliminaries.[10][11]

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tam Chi-kin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Japan Takes Four of Five Events on Day One of Asian Games". Swimming World Magazine. 30 September 2002. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Japan's Kitajima Breaks Barrowman's 200m Breaststroke World Record; Cracks 2:10 Barrier". Swimming World Magazine. 2 October 2002. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  4. ^ Chan, Kin-wa. "New athletics coach has broad expertise". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Breaststroke Heat 3" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 250. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Swimming – Men's 100m Breaststroke Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Swimming – Men's 200m Breaststroke Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Men's 100m Breaststroke Heat 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  9. ^ Whitten, Phillip (14 August 2004). "Prelims, Men's 100 Breaststroke: Kitajima, Hansen Qualify One-Two; Japanese Sets Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Men's 200m Breaststroke Heat 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  11. ^ Thomas, Stephen (17 August 2004). "Men's 200 Breaststroke Prelims, Day 4: 15 Year-Old Daniel Gyurta Continues the Hungarian Tradition, Leads with a Swift 2:11.29". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 December 2005. Retrieved 11 April 2013.