| Megan Romano | |
| Birth Date: | February 2, 1991 |
| Birth Place: | St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
| Height: | 6feet |
| Weight: | 170lb |
| Strokes: | Backstroke, freestyle |
| Club: | New York Athletic Club |
| Collegeteam: | University of Georgia |
Megan Romano (born February 2, 1991) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in backstroke and freestyle events. She is part of the current American record women's 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, and is the short-course yards American record-holder in the 200-yard freestyle and 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Along with her Georgia Bulldogs teammates, she won the NCAA Division I women's team championship in 2013.
Italian american,[1] at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Romano narrowly missed the Olympic team by finishing seventh in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:58.56 (the top six finishers were selected for the relay).[2] Romano also competed in the final of the 100-meter backstroke and place eighth in the final.
At the 2012 Short Course World Championships, Romano won four medals: two gold, one silver, and one bronze. On the first day, Romano led off the relay and had a split of 1:56.03 in the 4×200 free relay. Along with teammates Chelsea Chenault, Shannon Vreeland, and Allison Schmitt, they won with a time of 7:39.25.[3] Romano earned her first individual medal with a silver in the 100-meter free on the third day of competition, finishing behind Germany's Britta Steffen with a 52.48.[4] Later, she anchored the 4×100 medley relay to a bronze-medal-winning 3:51.43 with the fastest split in the field of 51.90.[5] In Romano's last event, she led off the relay with a split of 52.86, and along with Jessica Hardy, Lia Neal, and Allison Schmitt, won the 4×100 free relay in 3:31.01, nearly two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Australia.[6]
At the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Romano anchored the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay to a gold medal, overtaking Australia's Alicia Coutts in the final 100 meters. She entered the water 7 tenths of a second behind Coutts, but beat the Australian by a margin of 0.12. Her split of 52.60 was a personal best and second-fastest of anyone in the field. The final relay time of 3:32.31 bettered the previous American record of 3:34.24.[7] Romano earned her second medal, a gold, in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, and Dana Vollmer. Swimming the anchor leg, Romano recorded a split of 53.43 and the team finished with a time of 3:53.23.
| Long course (50 m pool) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Time | City | Date | |
| 50 m backstroke | 28.56 | Charlotte | May 10, 2013 | |
| 100 m backstroke | 59.85 | Kazan | July 13, 2013 | |
| 200 m backstroke | 2:09:08 | Indianapolis | August 11, 2012 | |
| 50 m freestyle | 24.98 | Kazan | July 16, 2013 | |
| 100 m freestyle | 53.90 | Indianapolis | June 25, 2013 | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:57.54 | Indianapolis | August 10, 2012 | |