by Michael Leonard
Sports Editor
Swimmer and Stow native Mark Gangloff just finished competing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his second summer Olympics.
And though he made the finals of the 100-meter breaststroke, unfortunately he didn't get a medal. On Aug. 11, Gangloff placed eighth with a time of 1:00.24.
Swimming for Team USA, he qualified for the final with a seventh-place finish in the semifinal with a time of 1:00.44. He swam a time of 1:00.71 in the preliminaries Aug. 9.
Gangloff finished fourth in the same event in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He won a gold medal in Athens as part of the United States' 400-meter medley relay team.
Qualifying for this year's 400-meter medley relay is scheduled to begin Aug. 15.
Gangloff, 26, is the son of Kenneth and Jennifer Gangloff of Stow. He was unavailable for comment Aug. 11.
He was a three-time state champion in the 100 breaststroke at Akron Firestone High School and currently lives in Charlotte, N.C.
A 2000 graduate of Firestone, Gangloff swam at Auburn University, where he was a 13-time All-American, four-time SEC champion and holds the school record in the 100 breaststroke.
The Beijing Olympics men's 100 breaststroke final was the fastest breaststroke race in history.
Kosuke Kitajima of Japan not only repeated as Olympic champion, but broke the world record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.91 seconds.
Kitajima was the first man ever to break 59 seconds in the 100 breaststroke.
Norway's Alexander Dale Oen took the silver medal in 59.20 seconds, while Hugues Duboscq of France took the bronze in 59.37. American Brenden Hansen finished fourth in 59.57.
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