Michael Klim


Michael George Klim, OAM is an Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and former world record-holder of the 1990s and 2000s. He is known as the creator of straight-arm freestyle.

Early years

Klim was born in Gdynia, Poland, in 1977. Shortly after his birth, his father was appointed trade attaché to the Polish consulate in Bombay, and together with his older sister he learned to swim there. The family returned to Gdynia after five years. They left Poland in 1987 and lived in Hamburg, Germany, where as a 10-year-old he competed nationally for a local swimming club. His father applied for a business visa for Australia, but as the process was slow, they also applied for Canadian visas and soon moved to Toronto. Nine months later, their Australian visa was granted. The family arrived in Melbourne on 30 April 1989. Klim was educated at the University High School, Melbourne, and Wesley College, Melbourne, where he was later employed as the college's elite head coach of swimming.

Career

Klim was first selected to represent Australia in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, while still a student at Wesley College, Melbourne. For his achievements he was named the Male Swimmer of the Year by the magazine Swimming World in 1997.
In 1999, he set a world record in the 100 m butterfly twice, in a FINA-sanctioned time trial. It was broken at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona by the Ukrainian Andriy Serdinov in the first semifinal of the 100 m butterfly, and then broken another time in the next semifinal by Michael Phelps. Phelps's record was bested by Ian Crocker in the final the following day.
Klim was Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and was inducted into the AIS 'Best of the Best' in 2001. Klim was the only Australian to win a gold medal at both the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
On 26 June 2007 Klim retired from competitive swimming; he finished the year ranked 94 in the 100 freestyle with the Olympics 14 months away. However, on 14 February 2011 Klim announced his return to competitive swimming, hoping to compete in the London 2012 Olympics. Ultimately Klim failed to qualify for the team and he retired from competitive swimming for a second time.
After his second retirement from swimming, in 2008, Klim became founder and CEO of a skin care company named "Milk and Co". During Covid-19, he stepped away from that business to establish his swim school in Bali, Klim Swim in 2021.

Medal achievements

In 1996, he arrived at the Atlanta Olympics ranked first in the world for the 200 m freestyle, but was surprisingly eliminated in the heats. He rebounded to qualify for a finals in the 100m butterfly, and swam the freestyle leg in the 4×100 m medley relay, in which Australia claimed a bronze medal.
  • Atlanta Olympics
  • * Men's 4×100m Medley Relay
1998 was Klim's year in the sun. In January, the World Aquatics Championships were held in Perth, Western Australia, and in front of a boisterous home crowd, he was the leading swimmer of the meet. He triumphed in the 200 m freestyle and the 100 m butterfly, and added silver in the 100 m freestyle, and bronze in the 50 m freestyle. He was a member of each of Australia's three relay teams, winning gold in the 4×200 m freestyle relay and 4×100 m medley relay, and a silver in the 4×100 m freestyle relay.
  • FINA World Championships 1998 in Perth, Australia
  • * 200m Freestyle
  • * 100m Freestyle
  • * 50m Freestyle
  • * 100m Butterfly
  • * 4×100m Freestyle Relay
  • * 4×200m Freestyle Relay
  • * 4×100m Medley Relay
At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Klim set a world record leading off the 4×100 m freestyle relay, which paved the way for a world record. Three days later, he was part of the 4×200 m freestyle relay, which set another world record, which left the opposition over 5 seconds in arrears on its way to victory. His 100m freestyle world record bested by Pieter van den Hoogenband in the semi's, in the final he finished with a bitter 4th place, he turned first at the wall but he claimed his legs gave away in the second half. In the 100 m butterfly, he was the world record holder, again turning first at the wall heavily under world record pace, but was cut down in the closing stages by Sweden's Lars Frölander, finishing second. On the final night he claimed silver as part of the 4×100 m medley relay team.
  • 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia
  • * 100m Butterfly
  • * 4×100m Freestyle Relay
  • * 4×200m Freestyle Relay
  • * 4×100m Medley Relay
In 2001, hampered by an ankle injury Klim was restricted to relay duties, and contributed to another world record, winning gold in the 4×200 m relay. He also collected a gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay.
  • FINA World Championships 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan
  • * 4×100m Freestyle Relay
  • * 4×200m Freestyle Relay
In 2002 and 2003, due to chronic back and shoulder problems, Klim was inactive throughout these years.
Klim failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but was later selected as part of the relay team, which came second behind USA in the 4×200m, race. The relay team did not win a medal in the 4x100m and failed to qualify for the medley relay final.
  • 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece
  • * 4×200m Freestyle Relay
In 2005, Klim swam at the World Aquatics in Montreal, returning to individual action, but failed to progress to the finals in the 50m & 100m Freestyle. He won bronze as part of the 4×100 m freestyle relay.
  • FINA World Championships 2005 in Montreal, Canada
  • * 4×100m Freestyle Relay
In 2007, he swam as part of the B team in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, in the final the Australian team won the gold medal.
  • 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia
  • * 4×100m Medley Relay

    Personal life

Klim married Lindy Rama, a former model and fashion entrepreneur, in April 2006. The couple have two daughters, and a son. Klim and Rama moved to Bali in 2010 to raise their family but announced their separation in February 2016. Klim shares custody of his children and continues to live between Bali and Australia with his partner, Michelle Owen.
Klim supports the St Kilda Saints in the Australian Football League.
In July 2022, Klim revealed that he had been diagnosed with the auto-immune disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy in 2020, which has affected his legs and feet and left him struggling to walk unassisted.
In 2024, his autobiography Klim, written with sports journalist Nicole Jeffery, was published by Hachette.