Thomas Rupprath (born 16 March 1977 in Neuss) is an Olympic swimmer from Germany, who is nicknamed "The New Albatross". Biography He held the world record for the 50 m backstroke (short course) with a time of 23.27 seconds set on 31 November 2002. This was broken by Robert Hurley of Australia on 26 October 2008. He also held the 50 m backstroke (long course) record between 7 July 2003 to 2 April 2008 with a time of 24.80 s. With a time of 54.16 over 100 m backstroke (second behind Helge Meeuw) Thomas Rupprath managed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing. He also won the 100 m butterfly at the German trials. Achievements Olympic Games Bronze medal in 2000 Sydney Silver medal in 2004 Athens World championships Silver medal at 2007 Melbourne World Championships SC Gold medal at 2004 Indianapolis Silver medal at 2000 Athens Silver medal at 2006 Shanghai See also List of German records in swimming World record progression 50 metres backstroke World record progression 100 metres backstroke References External links 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Neuss Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics German male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of Germany German male backstroke swimmers German male butterfly swimmers Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! participants