Klete Keller

Klete Derik Keller (born March 21, 1982) is an American former competitive swimmer and a convicted participant in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

Keller was born March 21, 1982, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to mother Karen and father Kelly.

Both parents were intercollegiate athletes at Arizona State University; his father played basketball and his mother swam.

At the 1998 Summer Nationals, Keller was named "Rookie of the Meet".

At the 1999 U.S. National Swimming Championships, Keller won bronze in the 1500m freestyle, behind Chris Thompson and Erik Vendt.

Keller also competed in the 400-meter freestyle, placing fifth behind Chad Carvin, Erik Vendt, Uğur Taner, and Mark Warkentin.

Keller won gold in the 5k open water race at the 1999 Phillips 66 National Championships with a time of 46:51, earning him a spot in the same event the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

In the 5k open water race at the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Keller won gold with a time of 55:42.

Keller was also a member of the 1999 United States National Junior Team.

Keller grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and graduated from Arcadia High School in 2000.

Per the subsequent account of Jon Urbanchek, who coached Keller in his later swimming career, "he had a rough time at home".

Others have corroborated that Keller had a dysfunctional home life.

Keller attended the University of Southern California for two years from 2000 to 2001, but left school to focus on swimming.

While at USC, Keller won multiple individual and relay Pac-10 and NCAA Championships in the 200, 500 and 1,650-yard freestyle, as well as freestyle relays.

He was a four-time NCAA champion.

In both 2000 and 2001, Keller was named to the United States Swimming "All-Star Team".

Keller won at the bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Keller was one of many 2000 Olympic swimming medalists to come out of The Race Club World Team, a summer swimming camp in Florida.

Also in 2000, Keller won the summer national title in the 400 meter freestyle.

In 2001, Keller won the spring national title in the 200 meter freestyle.

Later that year at the World Aquatics Championships, Keller won an individual bronze medal in the 200 meter freestyle and a team bronze medal in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay.

Keller left USC after his sophomore season, when he went professional, forfeiting his final two years of collegiate sports eligibility.

In addition to the two times during his collegiate career, Keller, Keller was named to the United States Swimming "All-Star Team" four more times after going professional (in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006).

Towards the end of his swimming career, Keller was reported to train for five hours every day, six days per week.

At the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Keller won an individual bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle race and a team silver medal in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay.

At the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships, Keller won gold in the 200 meter freestyle and the 200 400 meter freestyle, as well as bronze in the 800 meter freestyle.

Keller also won the summer 2002 national title in the 400 meter freestyle and was named to the United States Swimming "All-Star Team".

At the 2003 World Aquatics championships, Keller was on the gold-winning American team in the 800 m freestyle.

His older sister, Kelsey, swam for University of Washington, and younger sister, Kalyn, swam for University of Southern California (USC) and competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

After going professional, Keller competed in two more Summer Olympics, in 2004 and 2008.

Twice during his career, he was the cover athlete of Swimming World.

Afterwards, he trained until 2007 at Club Wolverine, run at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, under Jon Urbanchek and later Bob Bowman.

Urbanchek was the coach of the three Olympic swimming teams which Keller competed on.

Late into his swimming career, Keller would cite Urbanchek as his greatest influence, remarking, "He's the type of man I want to be like when I'm older."

Before retiring from swimming in 2008, Keller won five Olympic medals, including two golds, at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter freestyle and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.

In January 2021, Keller took part in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

He was later arrested and charged with three offenses stemming from his participation.

He was indicted on seven charges by a grand jury the following month, and later pleaded guilty to a single felony charge as part of a plea bargain.

In December 2023, Keller was sentenced to three years of probation and six months of home detention.

In 2015, the Reno Gazette-Journal named Keller as the most decorated Olympian ever born in Nevada.