Jonas Lars Persson is an Olympic swimmer from Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. He swam for his homeland at the 2008 Olympics

Sweden at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Sweden competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This is a list of all of the Swedish athletes who have qualified for the Olympics.-Medalists:- Archery:Men-Men's team:-Women's team:- Badminton :...

.

Biography

Persson was born 15 December 1983 in Slottstaden in Malmö

Malmö

Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...

, to Lars and Ingegerd Persson.

In 2002, Jonas Persson won his first individual title in the Swedish Swimming Championships

Swedish Swimming Championships

The Swedish Swimming Championships are held annually in the Swedish summer in outdoor 50 m pool. The championships sometimes also works as trials for the Summer Olympics, World Championships and European Championships...

, on 200 m freestyle, after having won a silver in the Swedish Short Course Swimming Championships

Swedish Short Course Swimming Championships

The Swedish Short Course Swimming Championships are annually in late November in an indoor 25m pool. The championships sometimes also works as trials for the World Championships and European Short Course Swimming Championships. Swimmers representing Swedish swim teams may participate...

 earlier the same year.

Persson swam and attended school at the USA's University of Arizona

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

 for two years (2004–06), and more recently was at the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 (2006–09), where he majored in Marketing and International Business.

At the 2008 European Championships, he swam the anchor leg of Sweden's winning 4×100 m freestyle relay; also on the relay were Marcus Piehl

Marcus Piehl

Marcus Piehl is a freestyle swimmer from Sweden. He was a member of the Swedish silver medal winner team in 4×100 m freestyle at the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships together with Lars Frölander, Jonas Tilly and Stefan Nystrand....

, Stefan Nystrand

Stefan Nystrand

Stefan Nystrand is a freestyle swimmer from Sweden.-Biography:His father Sture Nystrand is a Swede and his mother Smiljana Kokeza is Croatian from Split...

 and Petter Stymne

Petter Stymne

Petter Stymne is a Swedish swimmer from Skövde, representing SK Neptun from Stockholm. He competed for his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece....

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Persson also participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 for Sweden in the 100 m freestyle, 4×100 m freestyle relay and the 4×100 medley relay. He finished 13th in the 100 m freestyle and 5th in the 4×100 freestyle relay, alongside Petter Stymne

Petter Stymne

Petter Stymne is a Swedish swimmer from Skövde, representing SK Neptun from Stockholm. He competed for his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece....

, Lars Frölander

Lars Frölander

Lars Arne Frölander is a Swedish swimmer. He grew up in Ornäs in Borlänge Municipality. He competed in 5 consecutive Olympic Games . The highlight of his career was when he won the gold in the 100 metre butterfly event at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000...

 and Stefan Nystrand

Stefan Nystrand

Stefan Nystrand is a freestyle swimmer from Sweden.-Biography:His father Sture Nystrand is a Swede and his mother Smiljana Kokeza is Croatian from Split...

. The medley relay team consisting of Simon Sjödin

Simon Sjödin

Simon Sjödin is a Swedish Olympic swimmer of the SK Neptun, represented Sweden at the 2008 Olympic Games.-Biography:Simon Sjödin was born 4 October 1986 in, to parents Kristina and Omar....

, Jonas Andersson

Jonas Andersson (swimmer)

Jonas Carl Andersson is a Swedish swimmer from Stockholm, representing SK Neptun from Stockholm.-Biography:Jonas Andersson was born June 2, 1984, in Stockholm, to Ewa and Jan Andersson....

, Frölander and Persson finished 11th in the prelims.

Persson has been a key member of the Swedish 4×100 m freestyle relay teams during the late 2000s, but missed the 2009 World Aquatics Championships

2009 World Aquatics Championships

The 2009 World Aquatics Championships or the XIII FINA World Championships were celebrated in Rome, Italy in 2009 from July 17 to August 2. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines: diving, swimming, open water swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo.Rome won...

in Rome because of an injured shoulder.

Persson currently coaches for the University of Tennessee.