Brendan Hansen

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Medal record
Men's Swimming
Competitor for United States
Olympic Games
Gold	2004 Athens^[1]	4x100 m medley relay
Silver	2004 Athens	100 m breaststroke
Bronze	2004 Athens	200 m breaststroke
World Championsips - Long Course
Gold	2001 Fukuoka	200 m breaststroke
Gold	2005 Montreal^[2]	100 m breaststroke
Gold	2005 Montreal	200 m breaststroke
Gold	2005 Montreal	4 x 100 m medley relay
Silver	2007 Melbourne^[3]	50 m breaststroke
Gold	2007 Melbourne	100 m breaststroke
World Championships - Short Course
Gold	2004 Indianapolis^[4]	50 m breaststroke
Gold	2004 Indianapolis	100 m breaststroke
Gold	2004 Indianapolis	200 m breaststroke
Gold	2004 Indianapolis	4 x 100 m medley relay
Pan Pacific Championships
Gold	2006 Victoria	100 m Breaststroke
Gold	2006 Victoria	200 m Breaststroke
Gold	2006 Victoria	4x100 m Medley

Brendan Joseph Hansen (born August 15, 1981 in Haverford, Pennsylvania) is an American swimmer who specializes in the breaststroke. He is 6'0" (183 cm) tall and weighs 189 lb (86 kg).

Despite setting the world record in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke at the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials, he did not manage to win a gold medal in either event at the 2004 Summer Olympics, as he settled for silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. He would win a gold in those games for his role in the world-record setting 4 x 100 medley relay. His split on the relay turned out to be one of the fastest in history.

At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Hansen won gold in the same three events that he participated in at the 2004 Olympics.

Hansen's well-known for his unique style of breaststroke, which incorporates a kick that is much narrower than the other swimmers, including his biggest rival, Kosuke Kitajima from Japan, who took gold in both the 100 m and 200 m Breaststroke in 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

At the 2006 ConocoPhillips National Championships, Hansen lowered both his world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke to 59.13 in the 100 m and 2:08.74 in the 200 m.

At the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships held in Victoria, Canada [1], Hansen again lowered his world record time in the 200 m breaststroke to 2:08.50. It is notable that he was a quarter of a second behind his best time at the 150 m mark, but he came back 0.6 second faster with a 33.38.

Hansen is the current world record holder in the (long-course) 100 m breaststroke. The 200 m breaststroke record he set in 2006 was broken by Kitajima in June 2008.

Hansen has set numerous NCAA records while swimming for the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in kinesiology.

He was also NCAA Champion in the 100 yard and 200 yard breaststroke events each year of his four year college career.