Pál Joensen (born 10 December 1990) is a Faroese elite swimmer. He was born in Vágur, Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. He has won World and European Championship medals. His bronze medal in the men's 1500 metre freestyle at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Istanbul was the first medal won by a Faroese swimmer at the World Aquatic Championships.
He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics for Denmark in three events: 400 metre freestyle, 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay and 1500 metre freestyle. As a Faroese athlete, he competed for Denmark as the Faroe Islands do not have a separate Olympic body.
Joensen holds many of the national swimming records for the Faroe Islands; and these records are not only in freestyle. In short course swimming he holds most of the records in breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley too.
Personal life Born in the Faroe Islands, he moved to Copenhagen in August 2012, where he swims at the Danish National Training Centre.Svoem.dk Pál Joensen er flyttet til Danmark for at bo og træne (in Danish) He is now swimming for Aalborg Svømmeklub and for the Faroe Islands.Nordjyske.dk Flot nordjysk præstation ved VM i svømning. Aalborg-svømmerne Mie Ø. Nielsen og Pal Joensen fik begge medaljer ved VM (in Danish) While in the Faroe Islands he had to train in a 25 m short course pool, because there was no 50 m pool in the Faroe Islands. He was training with Susvim (Susvim is short for Suðuroyar Svimjifelag, which means Suduroy Swimming Club). His trainer in the Faroe Islands was Jón Bjarnason.
International swimming career
FINA World Championships 2007 At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Joensen competed in five individual events – 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. He did not proceed past the heats stage in any of the events.
Island Games 2007 Pál Joensen won five gold medals and one bronze medal at the 2007 Island Games in Rhodes. Men's 200 m freestyle, gold, 1:53.60 Men's 400 m freestyle, gold, 4:00.23 Men's 1500 m freestyle, gold, 15:48.25 Men's 4×50 m freestyle relay, gold, 1:36.01 Men's 4×50 m medley relay, gold, 1:47.71 Men's 4×100 m medley relay, bronze, 4:00.38
European Junior Swimming Championship 2008 Pál Joensen won 3 gold medals at the 2008 European Junior Swimming Championships in Belgrade. Pál won the gold medals in 400 metre, 800 metre, and 1500 metre freestyle. 400 m (3:51.44) 800 m (7:56.90) 1500 m (15:18.37)2008 European Junior Swimming Championships
Island Games 2009
Pál Joensen won gold and set several Faroese records at the 2009 Island Games in Åland: Men's 100 m freestyle, gold, 50.04Alandresults2009.com, Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Men's 1500 m freestyle, gold, 15.44.68Alandresults2009.com, Swimming – Men's 1500m Freestyle Men's 200 m breaststroke, gold, 2:16.06 Men's 200 m freestyle, gold, 1:47.76 Men's 400 m freestyle, gold, 3:45.87 Men's 50 m freestyle, gold, 23.19 (Tie)Alandresults2009.com Men's 4 x 50 m medley relay, gold, 1:44.77 (together with Høvdanum, Mohr and Thomsen)Alandresults2009.com, Swimming – Men's 4 x 50m Medley Relay Men's 50 m butterfly, gold, 25.62Alandresults2009.com Men's 100 m individual medley, silver, 57.66Alandresults.com, Swimming – Men's 100m Individual Medley Men's 200 m individual medley, silver, 2:04.41Alandresults2009.com, Swimming – Men's 200m Individual Medley Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, silver, 3:27.14Alandresults2009.com, Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay, silver, 3:49.65 (together with Høvdanum, Mohr and Thomsen)Alandresults.com, Swimming – Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Men's 400 m individual medley, silver, 4:26.18Alandresults2009, Swimming – Men's 400m Individual Medley Men's 50 m breaststroke, silver, 29.72Alandresults2009.com, Swimming – Men's 50m Breaststroke Men's 100 m breaststroke, bronze, 1:05.50Alandresults2009.com, Swimming – Men's 100m Breaststroke Men's 200 m butterfly, bronze, 2:05.81Alandresults20090.com, Swimming – Men's 200m Butterfly
FINA World Championships 2009 At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy, Joensen competed in all three events – 400 m, 800 m, and 1500 m. He did not proceed past the heats stage in any of the events. Joensen finished in 17th in the 1500 metre freestyle with a time of 15.21.37 m, 18th in 800 metre freestyle with a time of 8:01.50, and 22nd in the 400 metre freestyle with a time of 3:48.93.Omegatiming.com
FINA World Cup 2009 in Moscow At the World Cup in Moscow, on 7 November 2009, Pál Joensen won the men's 1500 metre freestyle (14:32.64) short course (25 m), beating his own national record of 14:39.99 set in December 2008. He also broke the Nordic record, which was set by the Dane Mads Glæsner at the World Cup in Stockholm 2008.Omegatiming.com 2009 FINA Swimming World Cup
FINA World Cup 2009 in Stockholm At the World Cup in Stockholm, on 11 November 2009, Pál Joensen won silver in the men's 1500 metre freestyle short course (25 m); his time was 14:32.59, which was new Nordic record. He broke his own record, which he sat 4 days earlier in Moscow.
FINA World Cup 2009 in Berlin On 15 November 2009, Pál Joensen won silver in the men's 1500 metre freestyle short course (25 m) at the World Cup 2009 in Berlin. His time was 14:32.15, which was new Nordic record, breaking his own record, which he sat 4 days earlier at the World Cup in Stockholm.Omegatiming.com
European Short Course Swimming Championships 2009 Pál Joensen participated in the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, 2009, in 400 metre freestyle and 1500 metre freestyle. Joensen qualified for the final in the 400 metre freestyle, but did not participate in the final. Joensen swam in the 1500 metre freestyle final, finishing in 7th place; his time was 14:38.00. The gold medallist in the race was Jan Wolfgarten, from Germany, who swam a time of 14:20.44, silver was won by Federico Colbertaldo, from Italy, and the bronze medal by Mads Glæsner, from Denmark. Glæsner swam with a time of 14:26.74, which was new Nordic Record, breaking Joensen's record. Joensen recaptured the Nordic record in the men's 1500 metre freestyle on Short Course in November 2009, but in Istanbul in December 2009 Glæsner beat Joensen's Nordic Record.Omegatiming.com
Gold and Bronze at the Telkom SA National Aquatic Championships 2010 in Durban Pál Joensen participated in the long course 800 metre freestyle and 1500 metre freestyle for men in Durban at the Telkom SA National Aquatic Championships 2010. He won gold in 800 metre freestyle with the time of 7:58.92. Chad Ho, from South Africa, was number two with the time of 8:09.04, and John Ellis, from South Africa, was number three with the time of 8:14.99.Supersport.co.za A few days later, on 17 April 2010, Joensen swam in the final in 1500 metre freestyle for men; he was number three with the time of 15:21.84. The winner was Heerden Herman, from South Africa, with the time of 15:06.75, and number two was Mark B. Randall with the time of 15:09.75.
Great London Swim 2010 – Elite Races Pál Joensen participated in the British Gas Great London Swim 2010, which was held on 3 July 2010. He came finished fourth with a time of 16:47.45. The winner was Thomas Lurz, from Germany, with the time of 16:42.57. Number two was Ky Hurst, from Australia, and number three was Petar Stoichev, from Bulgaria.Greatswim.org This was the first time Pál Joensen tried to compete in open water swimming; he normally competes in indoors swimming pools.
2010 European Aquatics Championships – Silver Winner
Pál Joensen participated in the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest. On 10 August 2010, in the heats of the men's 1500 metre freestyle, he qualified for the final with the second best time, which was 15:04.05. Samuel Pizzetti, from Italy, swam with the best time, 15:03.32.Omegatiming.com The final was on 11 August 2010. Sébastien Rouault, from France, won gold, and Pál Joensen won silver; he swam his best time ever (14:56.90) and set a new Nordic record. Gold, silver and bronze winners all swam managed to swim sub-15:00 minutes. The results for the three first swimmers:
1 Sébastien Rouault, France, 14:55.17 2 Pál Joensen, Faroe Islands, 14:56.90 3 Samuel Pizzetti, Italy, 14:59.76Swimmingworldmagazine.com
FINA World Cup 2010 in Berlin Pál Joensen won two silver medals at the World Cup in Berlin in October 2010. On 30 October 2010, he won silver in the men's 400 metre freestyle (on short course); his time was 3:44.45. The winner was the German swimmer Paul Biedermann, who swam a time of 3:42.31.Omegatiming.com, Men's 400m Freestyle On 31 October 2010, Joensen won silver in the men's 1500 metre freestyle (on short course) with the time of 14:47.39. The winner was Job Kienhuis, from the Netherlands; he swam a time of 14:40.11.Omegatiming.com, Men's 1500m Freestyle
FINA World Cup 2010 in Moscow Pál Joensen won two gold medals in Moscow at the 2010 FINA Swimming World Cup. In the short course 400 metre freestyle, on 2 November 2010, he won with a time of 3:45.56.Omegatiming.com The silver medallist was the Russian Evgeny Kulikov with the time of 3:45.83, and Alexandr Selin won bronze with the time of 3:46.29. The following day, on 3 November 2010, Joensen won gold in the men's 1500 metre freestyle with a time of 14:50.66.Omegatiming.com The Russian Sergey Bolshakov won silver with a time of 14:53.85, and Sergiy Frolov, from Ukraine, won bronze with the time of 14:54.27.
FINA World Cup 2010 in Stockholm Pál Joensen swam in the final of the men's 400 metre freestyle at the 2010 FINA Swimming World Cup in Stockholm on 6 November 2010. He won bronze by swimming 3:46.13.Omegatiming.com Paul Biedermann, from Germany, took gold in the time of 3:41.27, and Yannick Agnel, from France, won silver in the time of 3:41.42.
2011 Island Games on Isle of Wight Pál Joensen participated in 15 swimming events at the 2011 Islands Games on Isle of Wight in the period 25 June to 1 July 2011. Joensen won 8 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze medals. Men's 100 m freestyle, gold, 51.16 Men's 200 m freestyle, gold, 1:49.83 Men's 400 m freestyle, gold, 3:54.02 Men's 1500 m freestyle, gold, 15:28.85NatWestiowResults2011.com Natwestiowresults2011.com Men's 400 m medley, gold, 4:23.10 Men's 200 m breast, gold, 2:15.96 Men's 4×50 m freestyle (relay), gold 1:33.59 (the others were Magnus Jákupsson, Heðin Lisberg Olsen and Pauli Øssursson MohrNatWestiowResults2011.com Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle, relay, gold, 3:23.10 Men's 100 m medley, individual, silver, 58.81 Men's 200 m medley, individual, silver, 2:03.18 Men's 4×50 m medley, relay, silver, 1:43.23 Men's 4 × 100 m medley, relay, silver, 3:47.81 Men's 100 m breast, bronze, 1:03.78
2011 World Championship