Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American international swimmer who has won two Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver medal as a member of the second-place U.S. relay team in the 4×100-meter freestyle event.
Ervin stopped swimming competitively at the age of 22 in 2003,auctioned off his 2000 Olympic gold medal on eBay to aid survivors of the2004 tsunami, but he began to train again in 2011.
Ervin is a member of the 2012 United States Olympic Team and competed in the 50-meter freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympicsin London where he placed 5th.[
Ervin was born in Hollywood, California. He is of Jewish descent on his mother's side, and of African-American andNative American descent on his father's. He was raised in Valencia, California.Ervin has described himself as proud his Jewish heritage and is a "practicing Zen Buddhist".
