Oussama Mellouli
Oussama "Ous" Mellouli (Arabic: أسامة الملولي; born 16 February 1984) is a 37-year-old Tunisian pool and open water swimmer and a three-time Olympic medalist who competes not only in the freestyle and individual medley races in the pool, but also in professional marathon swims and international open water swimming competitions. The world's most successful crossover swimmer currently trains with the Trojan Swim Club at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. He is coached by Dave Salo and Catherine Vogt at the University of Southern California where he went to school and competed.
Contents
Swimming Career Highlights
- Mellouli became the 1500m freestyle world champion at the 2009 FINA World Championships with a winning time of 14:37:28, second best performance of all time.
- Mellouli became the Olympic gold medalist in the 1500m freestyle with a dramatic victory over Grant Hackett and a star-studded field at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
- Mellouli swam to a bronze-medal finish in the 1500m freestyle in the 2012 London Olympic Games as the first part of his Mellouli Double.
- Mellouli qualified for the 1500m freestyle and the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
- Mellouli competed in the RCP Tiburon Mile in San Francisco, California several times.
- Mellouli was nominated for the 2013 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.
- On 24 April 2012, he competed in the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup in Cancun, Mexico finishing in 1 hour 57 minutes 32 seconds.
- On 10 August 2012, he won a gold medal in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the Serpentine, London finishing in 1 hour 49 minutes 55 seconds at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
- On 19 July 2013, he competed in the FINA World Championships 10 km race finishing in 1 hour 49 minutes 19 seconds.
- On 31 August 2013, he competed in the 16 km Faros Marathon Swim in Croatia finishing in 3 hours 8 minutes 6 seconds.
- On 2 May 2015, he competed in the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup in Cozumel, Mexico finishing in 1 hour 43 minutes 48 seconds.
- On 24 July 2015, he competed in the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia finishing in 1 hour 50 minutes 50 seconds.
- On 16 August 2016, he competed in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Copacabana Beach at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, finishing in 1 hour 53 minutes 6 seconds.
- In 2012, Mellouli won the 2012 FINA Olympic 10km Marathon Swimming Qualifier in Setubal Bay, Portugal.
- Mellouli won the Olympic 10km Marathon Swim at the 2012 London Olympics in 1 hour 49 minutes.
- Mellouli won the 2013 FINA World Championships 5 km race on 20 July 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.
- Mellouli competed in the Olympic 10 km Marathon Swimming Qualification Race to qualify for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
- In 2012, Mellouli was awarded the Swimming World Magazine Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year and the Swammy Award for the Open Water Swimmer of the Year.
- Mellouli selected as the FINA Open Water Swimming Athlete of the Year for 2012.
- Mellouli was inducted in the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
- Mellouli won the 2005 NCAA 400-yard individual medley title and seven Pac-10 titles on the way to being a 16-time All-American.
- Mellouli is a 5-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) for Tunisia and became the first African male swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event when he won the 1500-meter freestyle in 2008 (just his country's second gold medal ever).
- Mellouli won four FINA World Championships gold medals.
- Mellouli served as Tunisia's flag carrier in the 2012 Olympic closing ceremony and 2016 opening ceremony.
- On 20 June 2021, he finished 10th in the 10 km in 2:02:55.60 at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier in Setubal Bay, Portugal at the age of 37.
- On 13 March 2021, he finished 52nd in the 10 km in 1:59:43.10 at the FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series in Qatar at the age of 37.
- On 16 July 2019, he finished 38th in the 10 km in 1:50:21.00 at the 18th FINA World Championships in South Korea at the age of 35.
- On 16 August 2016, he finished 12th in the 10 km in 1:53:06.10 at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Copacabana Beach, Brazil at the age of 32.
- On 12 June 2016, he finished 5th in the 10 km in 1:52:24.80 at the FINA Marathon Swimming Olympic Games Qualification Swim in Setubal Bay, Portugal at the age of 32.
- On 27 July 2015, he finished 23rd in the 10 km in 1:50:50.20 at the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia at the age of 31.
- On 22 July 2013, he finished 3rd in the 10 km in 1:49:19.20 at the 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain at the age of 29.
- On 20 July 2013, he won the 5 km in 53:30.40 at the 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain at the age of 29.
- On 10 August 2012, he won the 10 km in 1:49:55.10 at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the Serpentine, London at the age of 28 five days after winning bronze in the 1500m freestyle in 14:40.31 to establish the Mellouli Double.
- On 10 June 2012, he won the 10 km in 1:45:18.50 at the FINA Marathon Swimming Olympic Games Qualification Swim in Setubal Bay, Portugal at the age of 28.
- On 24 April 2012, he finished 11th in the 10 km in 1:57:32.02 at the FINA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup in Mexico at the age of 28.
- On 5 August 2021, he finished 20th in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo Bay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
2020 Tokyo Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results
Gold: Florian Wellbrock (Germany, 23) 1:48:33.70
Silver: Kristóf Rasovszky (Hungary, 24) 1:48:59.00
Bronze: Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy, 26) 1:49:01.10
4. Matan Roditi (Israel, 22) 1:49:24.90
5. Athanasios Kynigakis (Greece, 22) 1:49:29.20
6. Marc-Antoine Olivier (France, 25) 1:50:23.00
7. Ferry Weertman (Netherlands, 29) 1:51:30.80
8. Michael McGlynn (South Africa, 21) 1:51:32.70
9. Hau-Li Fan (Canada, 23) 1:51:37.00
10. Jordan Wilimovsky (USA, 27) 1:51:40.20
11. Rob Muffels (Germany, 26) 1:53:03.30
12. Kai Graeme Edwards (Australia, 22) 1:53:04.00
13. Taishin Minamide (Japan, 25) 1:53:07.50
14. Mario Sanzullo (Italy, 28) 1:53:08.60
15. David Farinango (Ecuador, 20) 1:53:09.80
16. Phillip Seidler (Namibia, 23) 1:53:14.10
17. Daniel Delgadillo (Mexico, 31) 1:53:14.40
18. Alberto Martinez (Spain, 23) 1:53:16.50
19. Kirill Abrosimov (Russian Olympic Committee, 29) 1:54:29.30
20. Ous Mellouli (Tunisia, 37) 1:56:33.30
21. Vitaliy Khudyakov (Kazakhstan, 26) 1:57:53.70
22. William Yan Thorley (Hong Kong, 18) 1:58:33.40
23. Tiago Campos (Portugal, 22) 1:59:42.00
24. Matej Kozubek (Czech Republic, 25) 2:01:52.10
DNF Hector Thomas Cheal Pardoe (Great Britain, 20)
DNF David Aubry (France, 24)
2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Nomination
Mellouli was nominated for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year award. His World Open Water Swimming Association nomination reads,
Oussama Mellouli has proven himself to be one of the most versatile, powerful, graceful swimmers in the open water since Johnny Weissmuller in the 1920s. Similar to the famed Tarzan of yesteryear, Mellouli has demonstrated his speed, strength and stamina in both the pool and open water. A gold and bronze medalist in the 1500m in the pool in London and Beijing, the personable multi-lingual Tunisian was even more heroic in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Hyde Park. Mellouli was not afraid to take control of the race in the Serpentine despite his relative inexperience. He had sufficient confident in his training and racing strategy to bolt into the lead at key points during the 10K. And when he accelerated towards the end, there was no one in the world who could keep up. For his impressively fast Olympic 10K marathon performance, for his willingness to step out of his comfort zone in the pool and try open water swimming, for his daily sacrifices that ultimately led to his Olympic medals, Oussama Mellouli is a worthy nominee for the 2012 WOWSA Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.
2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results
1. Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia - 1:49:55.1
2. Thomas Lurz of Germany - 1:49:58.5
3. Richard Weinberger of Canada - 1:50:00.3
4. Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece - 1:50:05.3
5. Daniel Fogg of Great Britain - 1:50:37.3
6. Sergey Bolshakov of Russia - 1:50:40.1
7. Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia - 1:50:42.8
8. Andreas Waschburger of Germany - 1:50:44.4
9. Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria - 1:50:46.2
10. Alex Meyer of the USA - 1:50:48.2
11. Julien Sauvage of France - 1:50:51.3
12. Troyden Prinsloo of South Africa - 1:50:52.9
13. Erwin Maldonado of Venezuela - 1:50:52.9
14. Igor Chervynskiy of Ukraine - 1:50:56.9
15. Yasunari Hirai of Japan - 1:51:20.1
16. Brian Ryckeman of Belgium - 1:51:27.1
17. Valerio Cleri of Italy - 1:51:29.5
18. Csaba Gercsak of Hungary - 1:51:30.9
19. Arseniy Lavrentyev of Portugal - 1:51:37.2
20. Ky Hurst of Australia - 1:51:41.3
21. Ivan Enderica Ochoa of Ecuador - 1:52:28.6
22. Yuriy Kudinov of Kazakhstan - 1:52:59.0
23. Francisco Jose Hervas of Spain - 1:53:27.8
24. Mazen Aziz Metwaly of Egypt - 1:54:33.2
25. Benjamin Schulte of Guam - 2:03:35.1
2013 FINA World Championships
2016 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results
1. Ferry Weertman, NED 1:52:59.8
2. Spyridon Gianniotis, GRE 1:52:59.8
3. Marc-Antoine Daniel Frede Olivier, FRA 1:53:02.0
4. Lijun Zu, CHN 1:53:02.0
5. Jordan Wilimovsky, USA 1:53:03.2
6. Simone Ruffini, ITA 1:53:03.5
7. Federico Vanelli, ITA 1:53:03.9
8. Yasunari Hirai, JPN 1:53:04.6
9. Christian Reichert, GER 1:53:04.7
10. Chad Ho, RSA 1:53:04.8
11. Evgenii Drattcev, RUS 1:53:04.8
12. Ous Mellouli, TUN 1:53:06.1
13. Mark Papp, HUN 1:53:11.7
14. Ventsislav Aydaski, BUL 1:53:16.1
15. Ivan Enderica Ochoa, ECU 1:53:16.2
16. Richard Weinberger, CAN 1:53:16.4
17. Allan Do Carmo, BRA 1:53:16.4
18. Kane Rae Francis Radford, NZL 1:53:18.7
19. Richard Nagy, SVK 1:53:35.4
20. Jarrod Poort, AUS 1:53:40.7
21. Erwin Maldonado, VEN 1:54:33.6
22. Marwan Ahmed Aly Morsy Elamrawy, EGY 1:59:17.2
DSQ Sean Ryan, USA
DSQ Vitaliy Khudyakov, KAZ (Asia)
DSQ Jack Burnell, GBR
External links
- The Best Open Water Swimmers from 1950 to 2020
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 2010's
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 2000's
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990's
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1980's
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1970's
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1960's
- The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1950's
- Qualifications for the 10K Marathon Swim at the 2024 Paris Olympics
- Heat Survey for the Tokyo Olympic Marathon Swimmers
- The Swimming Evolution – From Briefs To Jammers
- Florian Wellbrock Dominates The Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
- Big Surprises At The Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
- 15x For Mary Carillo, 7x For Rowdy Gaines At The Tokyo Olympics
- Matan Roditi Is Heading To The Tokyo Olympic Games
- Athanasios Kynigakis Is Heading To The Tokyo Olympic Games
- Watch The Olympic Qualification Race – Takeshi Toyoda Of Japan In Lead
- Hector Pardoe Is Heading To The Tokyo Olympic Games
- Olympic Dreams To Be Made In Setúbal Bay – The Men
- Awards, Honors Of The International Swimming Hall Of Fame
- 2020 WOWSA Awards – World Open Water Swimming Man Of The Year Nominees
- Thomas Lurz Talks About His Career And Rivals On WOWSA Live
- Mike Miller On The World Olympians Association
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Open Water Swimming
- The Perfect Open Water Man
- The Perfect Open Water Woman
- Three Is A Charm For Catherine Kase
- 2016 Men's Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Finalists
- 2012 Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km Coverage
- Ous Mellouli website
- 2012 Olympic Marathon Swimming - Male Medal Contenders
- Trojan Swim Club website
- RCP Tiburon Mile website
- 2012 London Olympics - The Men of Open Water Swimming
- 34 Countries on 5 Continents in London Olympics
- Ous Mellouli Ends The Olympics With Another Honor
- The Winning Strategy Of Olympic Champion Ous Mellouli
- Gold Medal Strategies At The Olympic Marathon Swim
- Surprises And The Future Of Olympic Marathon Swimming
- Tunisian Triumphs, Ous Mellouli Swims Brilliantly
- Ous Mellouli Wins The Olympic Marathon Swim
- How Fast Did Ous Mellouli, Thomas Lurz Swim In London?
- Triathletes And Runners Comment On Ous Mellouli
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Oussama Mellouli, Olympic Champion
- Déjà Vu For Trent Grimsey And Ous Mellouli
- Ous Mellouli Turning Injuries And Pressure Into Olympic Gold
- The Time Is Now, The Choice Is Yours
- FINA Open Water Swimming Athletes of the Year
- 30 Open Water Swimmers Known By One Name
- Now That Looks Like Fun
- He's Baaaackkkkk. The World Versus Ous
- Publicizing Heroes And Heroines Of Open Water Swimming
- Does The Nash Equilibrium Apply To Open Water Racing?
- World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation
- The Perfect Female Open Water Swimmer
- The Perfect Male Open Water Swimmer
- Swimming In The Black
- Mano-a-Man In The 5K - Thomas Lurz vs. Oussama Mellouli
- Catherine Vogt, A Unique Blend Of Coaching Excellence
- Swimming In Lane 4 In The Open Water
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Marathon Swimming
- Open Water Swimming
- Swimming Canada At The World Championships
- Ous Mellouli Wins 5K Worlds Over Eric Hedlin
- Heady Times For Hedlin At World Championships
- Tosses, Turns, And Tussles In The 10K World Championship
- To The Wise And Patient Comes Victory, Gianniotis Wins 10K
- First Half Of The Men's 10K World Championship
- Swimming In Lane 4 In The Open Water
- Foi Muita Adrenalina! A Prova Foi Pura Emoção!
- Why Open Water Swimmers Get Slimy, Slick And Slithery
- Catherine Vogt, A Unique Blend Of Coaching Excellence
- Cara Baker Rising To The Occasion At Worlds
- It Takes A Global Village To Do Open Water
- Haley Anderson Wins 5K in Barcelona
- Will Mainstone Rhys To The Occasion In Waikiki?
- Ous Mellouli Headlines Faros Maraton
- Swimming Further, Swimming Faster, Mateusz Wins
- Mateusz Sawrymowicz Unseen And Unlikely Upset In Tiburon
- 2013 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Nominees
- Crossover Athletes Enjoy A Great Present And Future
- 100 New Year's Resolutions For Open Water Swimmers
- Open Water Swimming Predictions For 2014
- How Copacabana Beach Changes Things In The Olympics
- Consider Ous Mellouli One Of History's Greatest
- Mateusz Sawrymowicz Is Poland's Promise
- Top 25 Individuals In Openwaterpedia
- The Swimming Evolution - From Briefs To Jammers
- The Perfect Ideal Of A Male Swimmer
- Historical Revolution: The Feminine Code Of Achievement
- What Are Swimmers Known As?
- 50 Things To Do In The Open Water After 50
- When Open Water Greats Go Ice Cold
- Competitive Awareness In The Open Water
- How Fast Are Women Relative To Men In Swimming?
- Decisions, Decisions While Leading The Pack
- Swim With Mike, 36 Years Of Helping Others
- Marc-Antoine Olivier Sets Blistering Pace In 5K
- The Night And Day Of Olympic Swimming
- The California Open Water Swimming Oasis
- Zu Wins, China Sweeps Olympic 10K Marathon Quals
- The Men Are Pushing The Pace In Olympic Qualifications
- Swim-offs In The Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
- Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Qualification
- Podium Hopefuls Train Closely On High
- How Fast Do Olympic 10K Swimmers Train?
- Yasunari Hirai Gets A Kick Out Of Training
- Daunting Double, Taxing Triple At Rio Olympics
- What To Look For At The Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
- 1.5K Down, 11.5K To Go, Jordan Wilimovsky In Rio
- FINA Should Listen To Jack Burnell And His Competitors
- He Said, He Said. Different Views Of Olympic 10K Marathon
- 1990 Capri-Napoli, A Marathon Race Like No Other
- Crossing Over From Pool To Open Water In Castaic Lake
- Champion Heads To Sea
- Jazz Carlin Has Big Goals For Tokyo
- Reviving RCP Tiburon Mile, Swimming After A Sabbatical
- Marathon Swimmers Federation bio
- Oussama Mellouli, Uniqueness Defined
- A Look Back: Facing The Unexpected In Setúbal
- Practicing The Mellouli Double In Tokyo
- Swimming Swiftly With Sound Science
- What Is Your Mellouli Number?
- What Is Your Van Rouwendaal Number?
- Wetsuits vs. No Wetsuits - Strange But True In Open Water
- Will Florian Wellbrock Achieve A Mellouli Double?
- Boring versus Bold for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
- Ous Mellouli FINA bio