| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kenneth Owen Merten | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | "Ken" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | May 4, 1945 Akron, Ohio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 176 lb (80 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Los Angeles Athletic Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Southern Methodist University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kenneth Owen Merten (born May 4, 1945) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Pan American Games medalist, and former world record-holder.
Merten won three medals in his breaststroke specialty at the Pan American Games. [1] At the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo, Brazil, he won a silver medal for his runner-up finish in the 200-meter breaststroke. [1] Four years later at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he received a pair of bronze medals for his third-place performances in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke. [1]
Merten represented the United States at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. [2] He competed in the semifinals of the men's 100-meter breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:11.6. [2] [3] He also swam in the preliminary heats of the men's 200-meter breaststroke, clocking a time of 2:37.0, but did not advance. [2] [4]
Merten was born in Akron, Ohio, [2] but grew up in Los Angeles, California. [5] He attended Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where he swam for the SMU Mustangs swimming and diving team in national Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. [5] While he was an SMU swimmer, he won NCAA individual national championships in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, the first ever in the history of the SMU swim team, and set new American records in doing so. [5]
Merten helped set a new world record of 3:57.2 in the 4×100-meter medley relay as a member of the winning U.S. relay team at the 1967 World University Games on August 31, 1967. [6] The record was broken by an East German relay team a little over two months later. At the University Games, he also gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events. [5]
He is now retired after a 32-year career as a teacher, school administrator and coach. [5] He actively competes in windsurfing within his age group, and is an active participant in Swim Across America, a non-profit organization that uses Olympic swimmers to raise funds for cancer research. [5] He lives in Dallas, Texas. [5]
