Ugur Taner

Mehmet Uğur Taner was born on June 20, 1975 in Istanbul, Turkey (to Erol and Gulcin Taner) and moved to the United States one year later. He attended high school at Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington, where he excelled in swimming. The summer after his senior year, he swam for Turkey in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He swam for University of California, Berkeley and was on the US national team from 1993 to 2000, winning nine national individual titles as well as 1994 world champion in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

In 2000, Taner married another internationally-recognized swimmer, Liesl Kolbisen, and began to work at her family’s swim school, La Petite Baleen. A son, Brooks, was born in 2001; daughter Channing followed in 2003; and son Vaughn in 2006.

Since January 2006, Taner has been playing guitar with the Matt Nightingale Band and is becoming well-known for his technical prowess and The Edge-like effects.