Ryan Berube

Ryan Thomas Berube (born December 26, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer and freestyle and individual medley specialist for Southern Methodist University who won the gold medal anchoring the U.S. men's team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. A business major at SMU, he would later work as a wealth manager, and serve two decades on various boards and committees of USA Swimming. and grew up swimming, boating, and water skiing on Florida's East coast. An attendee and 1992 graduate of The Benjamin School in Palm Beach, he trained with their swim team, also coached by Dick Cavanah. Cavanah, a former elite competitive swimmer for the University of Missouri and seasoned coach, took his first coaching job in 1971. He began coaching at The Benjamin School in 1977 and the North Palm Beach Country Club in 1975.

While swimming for the Benjamin School as a Senior, Berube became a state champion and set personal best times winning the 500 freestyle in 4:26.35, and the 200 Individual Medley in 1:49.49 at the Class 3A Florida State Championship in 1991. At the State Championship's 200 Medley Relay event, he demonstrated exceptional speed for a middle distance swimmer, recording a personal best time of 20.6 for his 50 freestyle anchor leg, though the team took third place with a combined time of 1:39.98. In statewide competition two months before starting SMU, at the Sunshine State Games in July, 1992, he won five events, receiving a plaque for the most points in the Senior Men's Division.

1992 Olympic trials At the U.S. Open Swim Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota in December 1991, Berube placed fifth in the finals of the 200 Individual Medley with a 2:05.79, and fourth in the finals of the 400-meter Individual Medley which qualified him in two events for the 1992 Olympic trials. In his Senior year in High School, he was recruited by UCLA, Southern Methodist University, Stanford, and the University of Texas, but chose SMU.

He graduated SMU with a Bachelors in Business Administration and a major in history as well as earning a Bachelors in Business Science (BBS), with a major in finance. Though he became best known as a freestyle relay competitor, he set a Southwestern Conference record in the 200-yard backstroke of 1:43.13 at the Southwestern Conference Championships in Austin in early March, 1994 and swam the lead off in SMU's 400-yard freestyle relay team which placed second with a time of 2:56.79.3. Diverse in his stroke skills, Berube held SMU records in the 200 Individual Medley, and both the 100, and 200 backstroke.

He swam on the 1993 U.S. team that won a gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay at the World University Games. He later was a member of the 1995 U.S. Pan American Team in Mar Del Plata Argentina that won a gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay in a games record time of 7:21.61.

1996 Olympic Gold medal Berube qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at the U.S. trials in Indianapolis, by capturing a third-place finish in the finals of the 200-meter freestyle with a personal best time of 1:49.37.

He travelled domestically giving swim clinics after his swimming career as an elite competitor ended, acting as a speaker and providing instruction at a clinic in March, 2010 with 1992 Olympic gold medalist Cris Perham and 1968 Olympic gold medalist Debbie Meyer at New York's Flushing YMCA as part of USA Swimming's Gold Medal Clinic. For two decades he served with USA Swimming, starting as an athlete representative and eventually serving on several boards and committees including rules and regulations and later USA Swimming's insurance company. Continuing to serve the swimming community in later years, he has chaired Dallas's chapter of Swim Across America, helped fund raise for SMU's new swimming facility, worked on the board of the US Olympians' Southwest Chapter, and spent some time swim coaching young children.

Honors Berube received the honor of being named NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 1996, his last year swimming with SMU. He was inducted into the SMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 2020, partly for his sustained contributions to USA Swimming and the Texas swimming and diving community. In 2010, he became one of the initial members of the Benjamin School's Athletic Hall of Fame in Palm Beach, Florida.