Blake John Pieroni ( ; born November 15, 1995) is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming. He is a two time Olympian and gold medalist in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at both the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics. On the relay in 2016, he swam in the prelims of the race, on the 2020 Olympics 4×100-meter freestyle relay he swam in both the prelims and the final. He also won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay at the 2020 Olympic Games, swimming the freestyle leg of the relay in the prelims.
Background Pieroni was born in Crown Point, Indiana, and raised in Chesterton where he graduated from Chesterton High School in 2014. He graduated from Indiana University. Pieroni continues to swim at Indiana University as a member of the Pro Swim group along with fellow professional swimmers, Cody Miller, Lilly King, and Annie Lazor.
Career 2013 World Junior Championships In 2013, at the World Junior Championships in Dubai, Pieroni took the bronze in the freestyle with the men's relay team.
2014 Junior Pan Pacific Championships As an 18-year-old at the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Maui, Hawaii, Pieroni won gold medals in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay (3:18.68) and 4×200 meter freestyle relay (7:21.36), as well as silver medals in the 100 meter freestyle (50.30) and 200 meter freestyle (1:48.85).Hy-Tek (August 31, 2014). "Meet Results: 2014 Jr Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". swmeets.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
2016 Summer Olympics
At the US Olympic Trials, he qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a 4×100 meter freestyle relay swimmer. In the heats, he swam a split time of 48.39 on the third leg, and the team went on to win the gold medal.
2016 and 2017 World Championships At the 2016 World Championships in Windsor, Ontario, with the men's relay team, Pieroni won two silver and one bronze medals: silver in 4 x 50 m freestyle; silver in freestyle and bronze in freestyle.
Pieroni won two gold medals and a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest as part of the men's and mixed freestyle teams: gold in freestyle, gold in mixed freestyle and bronze in freestyle.
2018 NCAA Championships In March 2018 at the NCAA championships he set the American and US Open records in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:29.63, becoming the first swimmer to break 1:30. Two days later his record was broken by Townley Haas.
2018 Pan Pacific and World Championships At the Tokyo Pan Pacific Championships in August 2018, Pieroni won gold with the men's relay team in the freestyle event. He also won the B-final of the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.22 seconds and ranked ninth across both finals heats."Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2018: Total Ranking". Seiko. August 9–12, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
At the 2018 World Championships in Hangzhou, China, which took place in a short course (25m) pool in December, Pieroni returned home with three gold medals, having won the 200 m freestyle as well as freestyle and medley events, as part of the men's relay team.
2019 World Championships At the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Pieroni took home two gold medals as part of the and 4 x 100 mixed freestyle teams. He also won a bronze medal as part of the freestyle team.
2019—2020 International Swimming League In fall of 2019, Pieroni signed for the team LA Current in the inaugural International Swimming League season. In the spring of 2020, he signed to compete in the 2020 International Swimming League for the team Toronto Titans, which was the first team in the International Swimming League based in Canada.
2020 Olympic Trials Pieroni placed third in the 100m freestyle at the US Olympic Swimming Trials with a time of 48.16, qualifying him for the US Olympic Swimming team in the freestyle relay."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 17, 2021. Earlier in the meet, in the 200-meter freestyle, Pieroni ranked seventh overall with a time of 1:46.57 and qualified for his first event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.USA Swimming (June 15, 2021). "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
2020 Summer Olympics
At the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, Pieroni competed in the prelims and final of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay."LSU swimmer wins gold at Tokyo Olympics". KATC 3. July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021. In the final of the event, he won a gold medal swimming the second leg of the relay.Gerike, Evan (July 25, 2021). "Former IU swimmers Zach Apple, Blake Pieroni win gold medal 400-meter freestyle relay". Indiana Daily Student. Retrieved July 26, 2021."IU swimmers add to US medal count with relay win in Tokyo". WTHR. July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021. He and all of his prelims and finals relay teammates, Brooks Curry, Bowe Becker, Caeleb Dressel, and Zach Apple, won gold for their efforts. It was the first medal Pieroni won swimming in the final of any event at the Olympic Games.Ferguson, Aaron (July 27, 2021). "Blake Pieroni anchors U.S. 800-meter freestyle relay in qualifying". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved July 27, 2021. His performance was good enough in the eyes of the USA Swimming Foundation to include him in their nomination of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay for the 2021 Golden Goggle Award for "Relay Performance of the Year" solely because he swam on the finals relay, something he learned after he was excluded from the nomination of, and award itself to, the 2016 United States 4x100-meter freestyle relay for the 2016 Golden Goggle Award for "Relay Performance of the Year" when he only swam on the prelims relay and not in the final."Olympic Stars Headline USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards Nominees". USA Swimming. October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.D'Addona, Dan (October 13, 2021). "Golden Goggle Award Nominees Announced by USA Swimming, led by Dressel, Ledecky, Jacoby, Finke". Swimming World. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
On day four of competition, in Pieroni's second event at the 2020 Olympics, he advanced the 4x200-meter freestyle relay to the final in the prelims heats with his fellow prelims-relay swimmers Drew Kibler, Patrick Callan, and Andrew Seliskar.Sutherland, James (July 27, 2021). "Relay Lineups: Pieroni In For U.S. Men on 4x200 Free Prelims". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 27, 2021.Anderson, Jared (July 27, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 27, 2021."IU graduates come up short in swimming events at Tokyo Olympics". WTHR. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021. The finals relay did not medal, finishing fourth overall.
In the prelims heats of the 4x100-meter medley relay on day seven, Pieroni swam the freestyle leg of the relay, helping the relay consisting of him, Hunter Armstrong, Andrew Wilson, and Tom Shields, finish seventh overall and advance to the final.Anderson, Jared (July 30, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Day 7 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 30, 2021.De George, Matthew (July 30, 2021). "Olympics: Italy Set Pace in Men's Medley Relay; U.S. Sneaks in as Seventh Seed". Swimming World. Retrieved July 30, 2021. On the last day of competition, the finals relay placed first and all the members of the prelims relay and the finals relay won a gold medal for their efforts.Hertel, Alyssa (July 28, 2021). "US medal count at Tokyo Olympics: Full list of every medal for Team USA at Summer Games". USA Today. Retrieved August 3, 2021.Fezler, D.J. (August 1, 2021). "Former Indiana Swimmers Zach Apple, Blake Pieroni Win Gold in 400 Medley Relay". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
2021 International Swimming League The Toronto Titans selected Pieroni for their roster in the 2021 International Swimming League.Penland, Spencer (August 1, 2021). "ISL Season 3: Free Agency Period Closed July 30th, Season Begins August 24th". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 3, 2021. After injuring his knee during training leading up to the playoffs season and following the regular season of competition, Pieroni withdrew from competing in the playoffs for the year.De George, Matthew (November 9, 2021). "Toronto Titans' Blake Pieroni (Knee) Pulls Out of ISL Semifinals". Swimming World. Retrieved November 9, 2021.Keith, Braden (November 9, 2021). "Blake Pieroni Injures Knee, Withdraws From 2021 ISL Playoffs For Toronto". SwimSwam. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
2021 Swimming World Cup Stop 1: Berlin
As part of the pre-World Cup FINA highlights, Pieroni had a picture of him celebrating a win at the 2020 Summer Olympics published on the FINA website as part of their star athletes to appear in the World Cup collection of photographs."Star Athletes in Berlin: Blake Pieroni (USA)". FINA. Retrieved October 18, 2021. Stop number one of the short course 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, in Berlin, Germany, Pieroni started competition on day one in the prelims of the 50-meter freestyle with a swim of 21.75 that ranked him fifth overall and advanced him to the final.FINA (October 1, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021. Within the hour, Pieroni followed up his performance in the 50-meter freestyle with a 53.73 in the 100-meter individual medley and advanced to the final ranked second overall.FINA (October 1, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 100m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021.Johnson, Annika (October 1, 2021). "FINA World Cup Day 1 Prelims: 14YO Jefimova Sets 200 SCM Breast Estonian Record". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 7, 2021. In the evening finals, Pieroni opted not to swim the 50-meter freestyle, focusing his efforts fully on the 100-meter individual medley where he swam a personal best time of 53.53 seconds and won the bronze medal in the event.FINA (October 1, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 100m Individual Medley Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021. The following day, October 2, Pieroni advanced to the final of the 100-meter freestyle with his time of 47.25 in the morning prelims session.FINA (October 2, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021.Dornan, Ben (October 2, 2021). "FINA World Cup Day 2 Prelims: Hansson Continues To Pop With 56.78 100 Back". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 7, 2021. In the final in the evening, he won the bronze medal, touching the wall third with a time of 46.74 behind Kyle Chalmers of Australia who won the gold medal and Jesse Puts of the Netherlands who won the silver medal.FINA (October 2, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021.Race, Retta (October 2, 2021). "2021 FINA World Cup Berlin: Day 2 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 7, 2021. The third and final day of competition in Berlin, Pieroni placed fourth in the final of the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 1:42.87 after qualifying for the final ranking fifth with his time of 1:44.29 from the prelims.FINA (October 3, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021.FINA (October 3, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
Stop 2: Budapest