Andrew Douglas Gemmell (born February 20, 1991) is an American competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He swam for the University of Georgia, helping then to place 5th in the NCAA in 2014, and was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic Team, where he competed in the 1,500-meter freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. At the Olympics, he finished ninth with a time of 14:59:05, missing the semi-finals by one place. He took several distance swimming medals, with a gold at the 5 km team event in the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, and took medals at the Pan Pacific Championships in 2014 and the Pan American Games in 2015 in the 1500 m, 5 km and 10 km events.
Personal life
Gemmell was born in Columbia, Maryland, the son of Bruce, a former captain of the University of Michigan swimming team, and Debra Gemmell. He started swimming competitively at the age of nine. He graduated from Charter School of Wilmington in Wilmington, Delaware in 2009. He is currently married to fellow UGA swimming alum and World Champion, Jordan Mattern. Gemmell's father Bruce Gemmell, was the Coach for the Delaware Swim Team in Wilmington, Delaware from 2006 to 2012, and later coached for the Nation's Capital Swim Team in McClean, Virginia. Andrew swam for the Delaware Swim team and the Nation's Capital Swim Team for a period and was coached by his father. Gemmell continued to swim at times for the Nation's Capital Swim Team, where Olympic athlete and medal winner Katie Ledecky also swam and was coached by Gemmell's father. Andrew would on occasion train with Ledecky to challenge her, and was swimming with her on the Nation's Capital Team as late as 2016, as he continued to train in his mid-twenties.
In 2008, he placed third in the Atlantic City Pageant Ocean Swim with a time of 24:20. He performed well, but would grow to become more accustomed to open water competition. In 2007, at only 16, he won the 35th Harry Yates Atlantic Swim near the Albany Avenue Bridge in Atlantic City with a time of 14:06.
College career
Gemmell received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Georgia, where he majored in economics and swam for Georgia Bulldogs swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition in 2010, and again from 2012 to 2014, after red-shirting during the 2010–11 school year. His personal bests include a 500-yard freestyle time of 4:17.75; a 1,650-yard freestyle time of 14:41.86; and a 400-yard individual medley in 3:44.89 (all times from the NCAA Championships). He completed his senior year in 2013–14, graduating in 2014 with a degree in economics. As a Senior Captain, Gemmell helped Georgia attain a fifth-place finish at March 2014's NCAA Championships, the school's best finish since 1997. At University of Georgia, he was coached by Harvey Humphries, who said "Gemmell was essentially an assistant coach because of his deep knowledge of the sport, and dedicated study of strategy and training". With an 3.86 college GPA, Gemmell was awarded scholarships for post-graduate study from both the NCAA and SEC.
International career
At the 2008 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships, Gemmell won gold in the boy's 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:21:58.
2009 World Aquatics 10 Km Silver medal
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Gemmell won silver in the men's 10-kilometer open water race. In the 5-kilometer race, Gemmell finished fifth. Gemmell is a recipient of the United States 2009 male open-water swimmer of the year award, and was nominated for the 2009 Golden Goggle Awards as breakout swimmer of the year. At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Gemmell placed fifth in the 1,500-meter freestyle and eleventh in the 400-meter individual medley.
2011 World Aquatics Team Gold medal
At the 2011 Shanghai World Championships, around July 21 of 2011, Andrew finished with a team gold medal in the 5 km swim. The other team competitors were Ashley Twichell and Sean Ryan.
2011 US National Championships, 1500 m win
At the 2011 ConocoPhillips U.S. National Championships at Stanford, California in August 2011, Gemmell won the 1500m free while attached to the Delaware Swim Team. He finished fourth in the 400m IM and in the 400m free placed eighth. He finished the 1500m free with a time of 15:01:31.02.