James Wilby is a competitive swimmer that competes for Great Britain and England internationally. He is an Olympian and world champion, European champion, and Commonwealth champion.
2014 Commonwealth Games (Glasgow, United Kingdom)
At his first major international meet, Wilby swam all 3 breaststroke event, making the final heat of both the 100 and 200. He also swam on the prelims of the 4×100 medley relay, which went on to win gold; Wilby’s first international medal.
2017 World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
After missing a number of international teams due to Great Britain’s immense depth in the breaststroke events, Wilby made the 2017 world championships team in the 200. In prelims, he swam a 2:11.51, which put him in 18th place, just missing the semi-finals.
2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast, Australia)
Wilby had a breakout commonwealth games, winning a hat trick of individual medals in Gold Coast. He won the 200 breast (2:08.05), finished 2nd behind countryman Adam Peaty in the 100 (59.43, .01 ahead of defending silver medalist Cameron van der Burgh), and 3rd in the 50 behind van der Burgh and Peaty (27.37), all 3 of which were best times. He also earned a silver medal for swimming in the prelims of England’s 4×100 medley relay.
2018 European Championships (Glasgow, United Kingdom)
Wilby continued his hot streak in his home town of Glasgow, where he went another massive best in the 100 breast (58.64) to finish 2nd behind Peaty again, making it a 1-2 British finish on home soil. Wilby followed that up with another silver in the 200, this time just missing his time from commonwealths in 2:08.39. He again swam prelims of the 4×100 medley relay, which went on to win gold in finals.
2018 Male Breakout Swimmer of the Year
Wilby had never won an individual medal internationally until 2018, but he broke through in a big way, amassing substantial medal hauls at both Commonwealth Games and European Championships. For this, he was named SwimSwam’s 2018 Male Breakout Swimmer of the Year.
2019 World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)
Wilby continued his success in Gwangju, starting things off by taking 2nd in the 100 breast to his British teammate, Adam Peaty. Wilby clocked a new best of 58.46 to earn silver. On Day 4, Wilby swam the prelims of the 4×100 mixed medley relay, which ended up earning bronze in the final heat.
Wilby made it to the semi-finals of the 200 breast, but finished 12th overall in 2:08.52. Wilby finished his program by swimming prelims of the 4×100 medley relay, where he split 59.02 in the relay that would go on to win gold.
2021 European Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Wilby claimed bronze in Budapest in the 100 breast, clocking a 58.58 in the final heat. He also swam prelims of the 400 medley relay, which went on to win gold in the final.
2020 Olympic Games
Wilby started his Games in the 100 breast, advancing to the final and finishing 5th at 58.96. In the 200 breast, Wilby once again made the final heat, swimming a 2:08.19 to touch for 6th.
In his final event in Tokyo, Wilby swam prelims of the 400 medley relay, splitting 59.16 on the breaststroke leg to help GB advance to the final, where they went on to win a silver medal.
