At the pool, you often see people swimming a very relaxed style of breaststroke—head out of the water, breathing freely, legs frog-kicking deep down—but swum properly, modern breaststroke is as physically grueling and technically demanding as butterfly, itself an evolution of breaststroke. One would expect a world breaststroke champion to be in fantastic physical condition. Norway's Alexander Dale Oen was 26, almost 27. In Beijing, he had won the Silver medal in 100m Breast behind Kitajima Kosuke, and was in training for the London Olympics.

Champion Swimmer Found Dead in Arizona

At last summer’s world championships in Shanghai, Dale Oen turned in the most emotionally charged performance of the meet. Competing in the 100 breaststroke final three days after 77 people, mostly children, died in the worst massacre in Norway’s history, he won in 58.71 seconds. It was the fastest time recorded by a swimmer not wearing the now-banned polyurethane suits and the fourth fastest in history.

After his time flashed on the scoreboard, Dale Oen pointed to the Norwegian flag on his cap, rose from the water and flexed his biceps in a show of strength to those back home in Norway.

“We need to stay united,” he said after the race. “Everyone back home now is of course paralyzed with what happened, but it was important for me to symbolize that even though I’m here in China, I’m able to feel the same emotions.”

A Faroe Islands blogger I follow is in shock, as are swim fans in Norway. He translated a tribute by a Norwegian blogger, When the hero of your kids dies, part of which follows:

The thoughts swirl: I’m also struggling with the tears. Alexander Dale Oen is the first sports hero that I’ve had together with my wife and children. And the greatest. My daughter wonders why he who was so good could die. I wonder too. She thinks his family must be very sad. They are. She is afraid that the same will happen to her brother, mom, daddy and everyone she loves. I do too. If this hadn’t happened, could he have won Olympic gold. That is not so important. The thoughts swirl and it is difficult to find good answers. Talking gives little comfort.

Swimming World interviewed Dale Oen shortly before his death, embedded below: