Dale Oen competed at the 2004 and 2008Summer Olympics, and represented the clubs Vestkantsvømmerne (1995–2010) and Bærumsvømmerne (2011–2012).[1][2] He was the first Norwegian swimmer in history to win an Olympic medal and the first Norwegian male swimmer to win medals at the World Championships and European Championships.[3][4][5] Dale Oen was the former Olympic and European record holder in the 100 m breaststroke, and holds the Nordic record in the 100 m long course breaststroke and the Norwegian national record in the 50 m, 100 m and 200 m long course breaststroke and the 100 m and 200 m short course breaststroke.[6][7]
In 2005, Dale Oen got his international breakthrough when he placed seventh and fourth in the 100 m breaststroke at the 2005 World Championships in Quebec and 2005 European Short Course Championships in Trieste respectively.[13][14] He set a new Nordic Record in the event at the latter championship with a time of 59.05 seconds during the qualification heats and became the first Norwegian to swim the distance in less than 1 minute.[15]
At the 2006 World Championships (25m) in Shanghai, Dale Oen won a bronze medal in the 100 m breaststroke and became the first Norwegian swimmer to win a World Championships medal in 28 years.[16][17] He followed up the achievement at the 2006 European Championships in Budapest, where he won the silver medal in the 100 m breaststroke, setting a new Nordic record in long course with a time of 1:00.63, and became the first Norwegian male swimmer in history to win a European Championships individual medal.[18][5] Dale Oen won his first short course medal at the 2006 European Short Course Championships in Helsinki, taking bronze in the 100 m breaststroke and setting a new personal best and Nordic record with a time of 58.70.[19]
During the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Dale Oen was the second fastest in the qualification heats of the 100 metre breaststroke, setting a new Nordic record with the time of 1:00.34, and third fastest in the semifinal, but finished last in the final.[20][21] At the 2007 European Short Course Championships in Debrecen, he set a new personal best and finished second in the semifinals with a time of 58.60, but finished placed fifth in the final.[22]
In 2010, Dale Oen successfully defended his European title in the 100 m breaststroke and won the silver medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2010 European Championships in Budapest.[24][25] During the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, he won the gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke and set a new Nordic record with the time of 58.71.[26][8] The medal was Norway's first World Championship gold medal in swimming.[4] Dale Oen's win came three days after the Oslo attacks and he dedicated his medal to the victims of the attacks.[27][28][29] At the 2011 European Short Course Championships in Szczecin, Dale Oen won the gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke and the bronze medal in the 50 m breaststroke.[30]
Legend: WR – World record;ER – European record;NR – Norwegian record; Records not set in finals: h – heat;sf – semifinal;r – relay 1st leg;rh – relay heat 1st leg;b – B final;† – en route to final mark;tt – time trial
Legend: WR – World record;ER – European record;NR – Norwegian record; Records not set in finals: h – heat;sf – semifinal;r – relay 1st leg;rh – relay heat 1st leg;b – B final;† – en route to final mark;tt – time trial
Death and tributes
On 30 April 2012, Dale Oen collapsed in the shower during a training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.[8][3] He was found by teammates who began administering CPR until paramedics arrived.[3] Dale Oen was transferred to a hospital, but pronounced dead on arrival, aged 26.[3] Following his death, tributes were made by friends and swimming rivals Cameron van der Burg and Kosuke Kitajima.[31] An initial autopsy was inconclusive, but a second revealed that Dale Oen suffered from severe atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, with the three main coronary arteries feeding his myocardium up to 90 percent occluded by atherosclerotic plaque, as well as an enlarged heart, and that he died of a myocardial infarction.[10] The autopsy also revealed that Dale Oen had suffered a series of small heart attacks in the months prior to his death, which went unrecognized.[32] He had experienced pain that radiated down his arm, and into his shoulder, face and chest, but this was attributed to a shoulder injury and a pinched nerve.[32] The only conventional risk factors Dale Oen had for heart disease were a "slightly elevated cholesterol level" and the fact that his grandfather died suddenly at 42, of an unknown cause.[33] Dale Oen's funeral was held on 11 May 2012, in Øygarden, Norway.[34]
Italian swimmer Fabio Scozzol dedicated his gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the 2012 European Championships to Dale Oen.[35] At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh and Hungarian swimmer Dániel Gyurta, who won the men's 100 m breaststroke and the men's 200 m breaststroke respectively and both set new world records, dedicated their swims and medals to Dale Oen due to their close friendship with the Norwegian.[36][37][38] Gyurta originally intended to gift a copy of his gold medal to Dale Oen's family, but due to the rules of the International Olympic Committee forbidding replicas of Olympic medals, he later gifted a special medal to the family and held a speech in Norwegian during the Norwegian Sports Gala in order to honor their friendship.[38][39][40] The new public swimming pool in Bergen that opened in 2014 was named Alexander Dale Oen Arena (AdO Arena) in his honour.[41] Among others, then-Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg held a speech at the opening of the pool, naming Dale Oen as "perhaps the greatest athlete of the country."[42] In May 2015, a statue of Dale Oen made by sculptor Arne Mæland was unveiled at the Coastal Museum in Øygarden.[43] The unveiling was attended by a crowd of one thousand people, which included then-Mayor of Bergen Trude Drevland and Dániel Gyurta, who placed a flower wreath on behalf of the international swimming community.[44]
^ abcTufto, Jon; Lindberg, Per; Nodeland, Kenneth; Stølås, Rune (1 May 2012). "Svømmeren Alexander Dale Oen er død" [Swimmer Alexander Dale Oen is dead]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^ abHaugli, Kurt B.M.; Dyregrov, Silje; Veland, Bernhard (12 June 2012). "Dale Oen døde av hjerteinfarkt" [Dale Oen died of a heart attack]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^Jacobsen, Ove (9 December 2005). "Historisk for Alexander Dale Oen" [Historical for Alexander Dale Oen]. Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^"Dale Oen tok bronse i EM" [Dale Oen took bronze at the European Championships]. Fædrelandsvennen (in Norwegian Bokmål). 8 December 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^Jacobsen, Ove (30 March 2007). "Oen har OL-planen klar" [Oen has got the Olympic Games plan ready]. Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^Sonstad, Trym Oust (14 December 2007). "Skuffende femteplass for Oen" [Disappointing fifth place for Oen]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^Hjellen, Bjørnar (10 August 2010). "Suveren Dale Oen tok EM-gull" [Superior Dale Oen tok European Championships gold]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^Bøhtun, Gunnar (12 August 2010). "Sølv og norsk rekord til Dale Oen" [Silver and Norwegian record for Dale Oen]. VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^Hoel, Yasmin Sunde; Hjellen, Bjørnar (1 May 2012). "– Han viste vei etter 22. juli" [– He showed the way after 22. July]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^Aaen, Lars Mørch (10 December 2011). "Dale Oen: – Ikke mitt felt" [Dale Oen: – Not my field]. TV 2 (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^ abHjellen, Bjørnar (12 June 2012). "Dale Oen døde av hjerteinfarkt" [Dale Oen died of a heart attack]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^Gjerding, May Linn; Mosveen, Eirik; Borud, Eirik; Majid, Shazia (12 June 2012). "Oens bestefar døde tidlig - ukjent for Olympiatoppen" [Oen's grandfather died early - unknown for Olympiatoppen]. VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^Holden, Lillian (7 May 2012). "Alexander Dale Oen begraves på fredag" [Alexander Dale Oen to be buried on Friday]. VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^Riise, Hege Bakken; Rove Bentsen, Anders (12 January 2013). "Her hedrer han Alexander Dale Oen" [Here he honors Alexander Dale Oen]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^Smørdal, Sander Englund (3 June 2014). "Milliardanlegget får navn etter Dale Oen" [Billion-facility named after Dale Oen]. TV 2 (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^Langeland, Knut (29 May 2015). "Strilen som erobra verda" [The stril who conquered the world]. www.aftenposten.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 October 2024.
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