Who Did They Swim For? Part 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hungary

Darnyi won the 200m individual medley in Seoul in 1988 with a then world record time of 2:00.17. In 1992, he was just off that time with a 2:00.76, which was still good enough for the gold. While swimming the 400m individual medley in 1988, Darnyi won by nearly three seconds with a then world record time of 4:14.75. Between 1988 and 1992, he had lowered his world record to 4:12.36, but was about two seconds off that in the Barcelona Olympics with a time of 4:14.23.

His performance was still good enough for his fourth and final gold medal, and a new Olympic record.

Answer: United States

van Dyken shocked the world when she became the most decorated American woman of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with her four golds. She won the 50m freestyle in a huge upset over world record holder (at the time) Le Jingyi, with a victory margin of only .03 second.

After an impressive 4th place finish in the 100m freestyle, Amy took on the 100m butterfly and won by a margin of .01 second over Liu Limin of China. van Dyken then swam on the United States' winning relays, the women's 4x100m freestyle and the 4x100 medley. van Dyken returned to the Sydney 2000 Olympics and placed 4th behind 33-year-old teammate Dara Torres.

However, Amy van Dyken won another gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay in Sydney bringing her career total to 5 golds.

Answer: Netherlands

Nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman," Pieter van den Hoogenband won his first event, the men's 200m freestyle in a world record time of 1:45.35. The favorite, Ian Thorpe, took the silver behind a shocked van den Hoogenband. van den Hoogenband later won the 100m freestyle in another world record time of 47.84.

In addition to his two golds, he won two bronzes, in the 50m freestyle, and the 4x200 freestyle relay. van den Hoogenband, combined with quadruple women's medallist and teammate Inge de Bruijn, provided what many called a "double dutch treat" at the Sydney Olympics.

Answer: United States

Biondi, although being compared to Mark Spitz's feat of seven gold medals in one Olympics, was extremely happy with his 5 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze. The golds came in the 4x100 freestyle relay, the 4x100 medley relay, the 4x200 freestyle relay, the 100m freestyle, and the 50m freestyle. He took a silver in the 100m butterfly and a bronze in the 200m freestyle.

Answer: East Germany

Several lives were essentially ruined when East German coaches drugged their athletes, giving them doses of chemicals to help them win. The athletes were not aware that they were being drugged, and many, including Kristin Otto, Petra Schneider, Caren Metschuck, Andrea Pollack, Christiane Knacke, and Rica Reinisch.

In 1994, Rica Reinisch looked back on her betrayal and said, "What makes me sad is that I will never know how good I could have been." (quote taken from "The Complete Book of the Olympics", by David Wallechinsky).

Although most of the East German women swimmers were chemically augmented, a few were clean and still competed well into the 1990s.

Answer: Russia

Popov won the 50 and 100m freestyles in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, becoming the first man to do so. He also won silvers in the 4x100 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay in both 1992 and 1996. In the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he won a silver in the 100m freestyle to bring his career total to four gold and five silver medals.

Answer: Australia

Dawn Fraser became the first swimmer to win the same event three Olympics in a row. She achieved this by winning gold in the 100m freestyle in 1956, 1960, and 1964. She also won a silver in the 400m freesytle in 1956. She also won several relay medals: a gold in the 4x100m freestyle in 1956, a silver in the 4x100m freestyle in 1960 and 1964, and silver in the 4x100 medley relay in 1960.

She finished the Olympics with four gold and four silver medals.

Answer: United States

His winning time in 1996 was 4:14.90, while he won with a 4:11.76. Both of his wins occured with an American teammate finishing in second (Eric Namesnik in 1996 and Erik Vendt in 2000). In 2000, Dolan also won a silver in the 200m individual medley behind Italian Massimiliano Rosolino.

Answer: Ireland

Michelle Smith shocked the swimming world when she won Ireland's first swimming medals in the Olympics. Smith won the 200 and 400m individual medleys, along with the 400m freestyle. She also took a bronze in the 200m butterfly. Suspicions arose when Smith suddenly began improving her times when she was 24, and she was still in top form at age 26, in 1996.

In 1998, Michelle Smith was banned from international swimming when she tampered with a drug test. However, no one has yet to successfully accuse her of using drugs in the Atlanta Olympics. Those who finished behind Smith in Atlanta can only wonder what might have happened.

Answer: South Africa

Heyns won the women's 100m and 200m breaststroke at the 1996 Olympics. She is known also for breaking "a slew" of world records between the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, but "only" managed to get a bronze medal in the 100m breastroke in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was regarded by many to be the best female breaststroke swimmer in history.