Ricky Berens

Richard Berens (born April 21, 1988) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course). He competed in the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay events, as well as the individual 200-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early years Berens was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. After graduating from South Mecklenburg High School, he attended the University of Texas at Austin, and swam for coach Eddie Reese's Texas Longhorns swimming and diving team from 2007 to 2010. During his collegiate career at Texas, Berens was a 20-time All-American, member of two NCAA champion relay teams, and key contributor to the Longhorns 2010 NCAA team title. He graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor's degree in finance in 2010, and relocated to Los Angeles shortly thereafter to train with coach Dave Salo at Trojan Aquatics. Berens was the only member of the finals team to swim in the preliminary heats, posting a time of 1:45.47, just faster than Klete Keller's 1:45.51, to be selected to swim in the final.

2009 World Aquatics Championships Berens swam the third leg of the 4×100-meter freestyle preliminaries at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and earned a gold medal when the U.S. team placed first in the final. Berens also swam in both the preliminaries and final of the 4×200-meter freestyle, which won gold. In the final, Berens swam the second leg in 1:44.13, the second fastest split from anyone in the event.

Berens was also a part of the winning U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay teams at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the 2011 World Championships.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Berens again won a gold medal in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Michael Phelps. Berens swam the third leg for the U.S. team in 1:45.27. He also won a silver medal as part of the second-place U.S. team for the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, in which he swam the third leg of the heat in 48.52.

After the final of the 4×200-meter event, Berens stated that he would retire from competitive swimming following the Olympics.

Sponsorships, media coverage, and work roles In 2008, Berens was interviewed on The Today Show in Beijing after winning gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In 2009 he made an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show, poking fun at himself after a swimsuit malfunction at the 2009 World Championships. In 2011, Berens (alongside his dog) was featured in a print advertisement for Eukanuba that ran in Men's Journal magazine. Berens was also featured in a print advertisement for a Casio watch, which ran in the December 2011 issue of Details magazine.

Berens was sponsored by TYR Swimwear and by BMW's Pro Performance Team. He also appeared in the "Got Milk?" chocolate milk campaign. Berens is represented by Octagon.

After retiring from swimming competition after his second Olympics, Berens worked at the University of Texas athletic department considering a long range future role as an athletic director. Berens then used connections he had at an Austin pet food startup business called Nulo to begin a position managing their business finances, with the goal of improving the rate of Nulo's growth. He enjoyed the position but wanted to work more closely with people. Around 2020, he accepted a position in Business Development at Bridgeport Consulting after interviewing with their Denver Manager, Tommy Hannan, a 2000 U.S. Olympic 4x100 Medley gold medalist, who, like Berens, had also competed in swimming at the University of Texas and majored in Finance.