FOR THE RECORD: 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (50m freestyle), silver (4x100m freestyle relay); 2013 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): silver (4x100m freestyle relay); 2012 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SC): gold (4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay), bronze (50m freestyle); 2001 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (LC): gold (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle); 2014 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay); 2002 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay); 2017 MACCABIAH GAMES: gold (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay), silver (4x100m freestyle relay); 2002 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100 freestyle, 4×100 freestyle relay); 2001 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (100 freestyle); 2000 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 4×100 medley relay).
Anthony Ervin’s parents enrolled him in swim lessons as a toddler, so he’d be safe around their backyard pool. When he was eight years old, he joined his older brother on swim team and a younger brother would follow suit. It was a great activity for all the kids and convenient for carpooling. But, says his mother Sherry, “If his older brother had played tennis, they would have all been tennis players.”
Anthony’s natural talent and feel for the water, developed from years of playing in the family’s backyard pool, was always apparent. Swimming for coach Bruce Patnos at the Canyons Swim Club in Santa Clarita, California, he started breaking Southern California age group records as a 10-year-old. However, his interest in competing took a nosedive at the age of 13. For a year he didn’t compete in meets, but his father encouraged him to continue with workouts, instilling within him the idea that he had the talent to be an Olympian.
After a year-long competition break, Ervin entered his freshman year at Hart High School with renewed enthusiasm. He thrived in the team environment, under coach Steve Neale, he says, because “There were no egos.”
After graduating as the fastest high school swimmer in the nation, with straight A’s in advanced courses, Ervin continued his rise to stardom upon entering the University of California, Berkeley. Under the guidance of coaches Nort Thornton and Mike Bottom, he capped his freshman years by winning individual NCAA titles in the 50 and 100 freestyle SCM. His winning time in the 50 free broke the FINA world record. Ervin then went on to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games in two events.
In Sydney, the 19-year-old helped the United States to a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay and then shared the Olympic gold with training partner, Gary Hall Jr., in the 50m freestyle. He furthered his international status the next year by winning both the 50m and 100m freestyle at the 2001 FINA World Championships.
But shortly after the 2003 NCAA Championships, Ervin walked away from school and the pool to begin an intellectual and spiritual journey of self-discovery, a seven-year odyssey he vividly describes in his critically acclaimed autobiography, Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian.
In 2011, Cal’s women’s coach, Teri McKeever, began nurturing him back into the water, initially for emotional and physical rehab. The training organically led him to join coach Dave Durden’s training group at Cal where he qualified in the 50m freestyle for his second Olympic Games. Although he got off to a bad start and finished fifth, his return was both inspiring and motivational.
After disappointing swims in the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, Ervin relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, in March of 2016, to fix his troublesome start and prepare for the 2016 Olympics.
After comfortably moving through the prelims and semifinals of the 50m freestyle, Ervin put together his finest performance in the final, where he edged defending gold medalist Florent Manaudou of France by .01 second and, at 35 years old, becoming the oldest male Olympic swimming champion in history. Moreover, his 16 years between Olympic crowns was nothing short of phenomenal, a testament to his belief, hard work, talent, and passion for swimming.
Although Ervin has retired from competition, he is a passionate advocate for the sport, and with the support of his wife, Marni, and daughter, Theia, and is a rising star in governance side of the Olympic and aquatic sports movement.
