View source for Mark Versfeld

{{Short description|Canadian swimmer (born 1976)}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Mark Versfeld
| image          = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size     = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| alt            =
| caption        = 
| fullname       = Mark Andreas Cornelis Versfeld
| nicknames      = 
| national_team  = {{CAN}}
| strokes        = [[Backstroke]]
| club           = Pacific Dolphins
| collegeteam    = [[UBC Thunderbirds|University of British Columbia]]
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1976|6|13|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Edmonton, Alberta]]
| death_date     =
| death_place    =
| height         = {{convert|1.86|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight         = {{convert|75|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's swimming}}
{{MedalCountry | Canada}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FINA World Aquatics Championships|World Championships (LC)]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships|1998 Perth]] | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 metre backstroke|100 m backstroke]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 1998 Perth | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre backstroke|200 m backstroke]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|World Championships (SC)]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1999 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|1999 Hong Kong]] | [[1999 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Men's 200 metre backstroke|200 m backstroke]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific Championships]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1997 Fukuoka]] | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 200 metre backstroke|200 m backstroke]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1999 Sydney]] | [[1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay|4×100 m medley]]}} 
{{MedalBronze | [[1995 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1995 Atlanta]] | [[1995 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 100 metre backstroke|100 m backstroke]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 1997 Fukuoka | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 100 metre backstroke|100 m backstroke]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 1997 Fukuoka | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay|4×100 m medley]]}} 
{{MedalCompetition | [[Swimming at the Pan American Games|Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games|1999 Winnipeg]] | [[Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay|4×100 m medley]]}} 
}}

'''Mark Andreas Cornelis Versfeld''' (born June 13, 1976) is a Canadian former competitive [[swimming (sport)|swimmer]] and [[backstroke]] specialist.  At the [[Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Summer Olympics]], he finished in 26th position in the 100 m backstroke.<ref name=r2/>  He won the same event and the 200 m backstroke two years earlier, at the [[1998 Commonwealth Games]].<ref name=r4/>  At the 1998 Aquatic World Championships he won a silver in the 100-metre backstroke, and bronze in the 200-metre backstroke, breaking a Commonwealth record in the process.<ref name=r1/>  He was named Canadian Male Aquatic Athlete of the Year in 1998.<ref name=r4/>

==Biography==
Two years after his birth, his family moved to [[Fort McMurray]] where he started swimming in a club at age 8.  In 1981 his family relocated to [[Edmonton]], and three years later to [[Calgary]].<ref name=r5/>  After the departure of his Calgary coach Deryk Snelling, Versfeld moved to Vancouver, where he trained under Tom Johnson with the University of British Columbia.<ref name=r6/>  After mixed studies in the sciences, psychology and political science, he majored in Economics at the [[University of British Columbia]].<ref name=r3/>

In 2002 he retired from active swimming and in 2004 moved to Perth, Western Australia, where he took up surfing and swim coaching.  He was part of the winning team in the [[Rottnest]] 21-kilometre open-water relay swim in 2006, along with Australian Olympians [[Bill Kirby]], [[Todd Pearson]] and [[Duncan Armstrong]].<ref name=r5/>

==Family==
His mother, [[Hella Rentema]], is a former Olympic swimmer from the [[Netherlands]]. He has a sister, Kim, and a brother Niels, who is also a competitive swimmer.<ref name=r3/>
His father Kees (Cornelis) won a Silver Medal in the 320+ age group relay at the FINA World Masters Swim Championships held in Montreal in 2014.

==See also==
* [[List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=r1>Jean-Louis Meuret (2007), [http://www.fina.org/pdf/histoFina/HistoFINA_IV_a.pdf HistoFINA Volume IV – Tome IV] {{webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5gYGemkC1?url=http://www.fina.org/pdf/histoFina/HistoFINA_IV_a.pdf |date=2009-05-05 }}. MEDALLISTS AND STATISTICS. Special FINA WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS (50 m.) Before Rome 2009.</ref>
<ref name=r2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417184625/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ve/mark-versfeld-1.html Mark Versfeld]. sports-reference.com</ref>
<ref name=r3>Anita Lonsbrough (September 1998). [http://www.swimnews.com/Magazine/1998/sepmag98/versfeld.shtml Day Three Personality: Mark Versfeld]. Swim Magazine</ref>
<ref name=r4>[http://www.cisport.ca/e/championships/swimming/2006/story_detail.cfm?id=6868 2006 CIS championships: T-Bird women, men still teams to beat]. cisport.ca (February 21, 2006).</ref>
<ref name=r5>[http://woodbuffalosports.com/home/mark-versfeld Mark Versfeld] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630101004/http://woodbuffalosports.com/home/mark-versfeld |date=2012-06-30 }}. woodbuffalosports.com</ref>
<ref name=r6>[http://en.usports.ca/academicAllCanadians/allcdns].  Canadian University Sports: Academic All-Canadians 2000</ref>
}}

{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 100m Backstroke Men}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 200m Backstroke Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Versfeld, Mark}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:Canadian male backstroke swimmers]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming]]
[[Category:Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)]]
[[Category:Olympic swimmers for Canada]]
[[Category:Swimmers from Edmonton]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:UBC Thunderbirds swimmers]]
[[Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Goodwill Games medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games]]


{{Canada-swimming-bio-stub}}