Introduction
Thomas Lurz (born 28 November 1979) is a German former competitive swimmer who specialised in long-distance freestyle swimming, especially open water swimming. Lurz represented the SV Würzburg 05 sports club and resides in Gerbrunn.
Lurz won 2 olympic medals in the 10 km open water, 7 gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships and 5 gold medals at the World Open Water Championships.
Biography
He competed for Germany at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 1500 m freestyle, where he finished 22nd and missed the final. He returned to the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the 10 km open water race. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he finished one place higher, claiming the silver medal. He was the world champion in the 10 km open-water swimming event in 2004, 2006 and 2009. From to 2005 to 2011, he won gold in the 5 km event seven times in a row. In May 2015, Lurz retired from competitive swimming at the age of 35.
Lurz won ten German titles for 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10,000 m (open-water) freestyle Lurz was the winner of the European Open Water Competition 2005
Honours
Swimming World Magazine Open Water Swimmer of the Year: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011 & 2013
Joint winner with Chip Peterson
Joint winner with Spyridon Gianniotis