Kaeser to Represent Switzerland in Swimming at Rio Olympics

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July 15, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-Virginia swimming class of 2016 graduate Yannick Kaeser has been selected to represent his native Switzerland at the Rio Olympic Games.

Kaeser, who also swam at the London Games in the 200-meter breaststroke, is set to compete in Rio in the 100m and 200m breaststroke. He was a four-time All-American at UVA, including a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2016 NCAA Championships in March. Kaeser won the Swiss national title in the 100m breast two weeks ago in Lancy, Switzerland. He holds the Swiss national records in both events, breaking the 200m breast record (2:11.65) at the 2015 FINA World Championships and the 100m breast record (1:00.61) in a time trial following the Georgia Fall Invitational in December 2015.

Kaeser will become the third Cavalier swimmer (second male) to compete in multiple Olympics, joining Mirjana Bosevska for Macedonia (1996, 2000) and Vanja Rogulj for Croatia (2000, 2004, 2008).

Also representing UVA in the pool in Rio will be rising senior Leah Smith, who will compete for the United States in the 400m freestyle, 800m free and 4x200m free relay. With Kaeser and Smith in 2016, UVA has had multiple swimmers at each Olympiad since 2008 and at least one swimmer in every Olympiad since 1996.