Olympic gold medalist and International Swimming Hall of Fame member Michael Klim is coming out with a memoir, “KLIM” on Aug. 28.
“I can’t wait for the launch of my book ‘KLIM’ which will be on sale from August 28. In it, I delve into my life and career, successes and challenges, and everything in between. I can’t wait to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it. Pre-orders are available now through @hachetteaus at https://geni.us/Klim or my bio above! #KLIM #book ,” he wrote on Facebook.
Klim was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2022.
He was a bronze medalist in the 400 medley relay at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He won gold in the 800 free relay and 400 free relay in 2000 in Sydney, also taking the silver in the 100 butterfly and 400 medley relay. His leadoff on the 400 free relay was a world record for the 100 freestyle and gave the Australians the start they needed on the way to dethroning the United States.
He was a world champion in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
From his ISHOF file:
Klim was born in Poland, learned to swim in India, lived in Canada and Germany as a youth and ended up swimming for Australia, where his family settled and finally considered home. As much as he moved during his youth, there was always a constant in his life – swimming. No matter where he was, no matter what country, Michael Klim could join the local swim team and immediately fit in.
When the Klim family settled in Melbourne, it wasn’t long before he was noticed by the Australia Institute of Sport (AIS). At age 15 he was asked to move and train in Canberra by Coach Gennadi Touretski, coach of ISHOF Honoree and sprinting great, Alexander Popov.
Klim first represented Australia in 1994 at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia. He began to shine in 1995 when he was named Australian Swimming’s Rookie of the Year.
Klim specialized in the freestyle and butterfly in 1996 and became one of the most notable athletes in Australian history. At his first Olympic appearance in Atlanta, in 1996 he was ranked first in the world in the 200m freestyle, but did not make the finals. However, he and his Aussie teammates won the bronze medal in the 4 x 100m medley relay. This was the beginning of Klim’s all-time great career on relay teams.
On December 23rd, 1996, Klim set the first of his 21 world records, in the 4 x100m medley relay at the Australian Short Course Championships. He continued his climb in January of 1998, at the World Cup stop in Sydney, breaking his first individual world record, clocking 51.16 in the 100m butterfly.
It was at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, in front of a home crowd that Klim produced his best performance. On home soil, Klim claimed seven medals in seven events, four of which were gold. His effort is considered today as the most outstanding performance by an Australian at an international swimming event.
Yet, as Klim says, “The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was Australia’s coming out party,” or at least its return to the greatness that was once common. In 1996, Australia ranked fifth at the Olympics, with just two gold medals won in the pool. After Sydney, Australia was a solid No. 2 behind the United States, with 18 total medals. Klim had a role in two of the gold medals and two of the silver medals. The biggest of these was his lead off swim in Australia’s triumphant 4x100m freestyle relay.
Klim walked away from Sydney with four medals, two gold and two silver, and three world records.
After the 2000 Games, Klim was plagued by a series of physical ailments which took two years to fully heal. The 2004 Games in Athens, was his third Olympics and he won a silver medal as a member of Australia’s 800 freestyle relay. He continued his successful comeback in Melbourne at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the 400 medley relay, silver in the 400 freestyle relay, and individually, a silver in the 100m butterfly and a bronze in the 50m butterfly.
His autobiography will dive into all of this and more.