John Flanagan

John Flanagan (born July 17, 1975, in Honolulu) is a male freestyle swimmer from the United States who specialized in middle distance and Open water distance events. He swam for Honolulu's exceptional Punhou School Swim Team where he was a three-time state champion in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle. After swimming for Auburn University, he won a 5 Km gold team medal at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Australia. He competed in and placed well in a number of USA Swimming National Championships through 2001, winning a 10 Km event at Daytona Beach in 2001, and receiving several second places in 5 Km events. In 2000, he won Hawaii's Surf and Sea North Shore Challenge, and was a five-time winner of the Waikiki Roughwater Challenge. In July 2010, he placed fourth in the 10 Km swim at the World Competitions in Fukuoka, Japan with a time of 2:01:6.5. He would later compete professionally in triathlon and in 2001 work as a swim coach at Kamehameha Swim Club in Honolulu. Flanagan was born July 17, 1975, to Naval Commander John Flanagan Junior and wife Robin. He moved to Hawaii around 1985 with his family from South Carolina. John's wife Rae Sojot was also a Honolulu high school swimmer, and at age 10 won a gold age group medal in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim around 1988, as did John at age 13. The couple later met and married around 2004, and would have two daughters. High school swimming He attended and swam for the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii beginning as a Freshman around 1990, where he was coached by John Meister. Punahou was an established, pricey, private college preparatory school near the University of Hawaii Campus with one of the top sports programs in the country. Around 16, John participated in America's Olympic Development Program's top-flight Eagle training camp in Colorado Springs for swimmers, with only 32 male high school swimmers participating. He also ran High School track and cross country with some success. At the Hawaii High School Athletic Association/Nissan Swim Championships on February 14, 1993, in his Senior year at Punahou School, he won the 200 and 500-yard Freestyle for the third consecutive year, making him a three-time state champion in two events. His brother, Kevin, placed fifth in the 500-yard freestyle. John also participated and won in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. By 1993, Punahou, a dominant swim power, had won all but two Boy's Hawaii State Swim Championships since 1958.