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James Guy (swimmer)

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James Guy
MBE
Guy in 2021 after the Tokyo Olympics
Personal information
Full nameJames George Guy
Nickname"Jimmy"
National teamGreat Britain
England
Born (1995-11-26) 26 November 1995 (age 28)
Bury, Greater Manchester, England, UK
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesButterfly, freestyle
ClubTeam Bath
CoachDavid McNulty
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 3 0
World Championships (LC) 5 2 4
World Championships (SC) 0 1 0
European Championships (LC) 7 2 3
European Championships (SC) 0 2 1
Commonwealth Games 2 7 4
Total 17 17 12
Men's swimming
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m mixed medley
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m medley
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2015 Kazan 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2015 Kazan 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2017 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2015 Kazan 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2017 Budapest 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Budapest 100 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m mixed medley
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Budapest 4×100 m medley
World Championships (SC)
Silver medal – second place 2014 Doha 400 m freestyle
European Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2016 London 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2018 Glasgow 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2018 Glasgow 4×100 m mixed medley
Gold medal – first place 2018 Glasgow 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2020 Budapest 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2020 Budapest 4×200m mixed freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2020 Budapest 4×100m mixed medley
Silver medal – second place 2020 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2020 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2016 London 200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Glasgow 100 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Budapest 100 m butterfly
European Championships (SC)
Silver medal – second place 2019 Glasgow 4×50 m mixed freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2023 Otopeni 200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Glasgow 200 m butterfly
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast 100m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast 4×100m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast 4×200m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 100 m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Glasgow 400 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gold Coast 400 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 200 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m mixed medley

James George Guy MBE (born 26 November 1995) is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in freestyle and butterfly. Guy has won multiple gold medals at each of the major international meets available to him, including for Great Britain at the Olympic Games (3), the World (5) and European Championships (7), and for England in the Commonwealth Games (2). In addition to further medals in those events, he has also reached the podium at both the World and European short-course championships. With 46 major medals at international championship meets, 20 at global level, he is one of the most decorated swimmers in British history.

Guy came to international prominence when he won two World Championship gold medals in the 200-metre freestyle and 4×200-metre freestyle relay event at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, and silver in the 400 metre freestyle behind controversial Chinese swimmer Sun Yang. A prodigious relay swimmer, in 2016, he won silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley relay at the Rio Olympics, finishing 4th in the individual 200 metre freestyle event.[1] He helped defend the men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay world title in 2017, and swam the butterfly leg to help Great Britain to gold in the 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. Guy is a Commonwealth Games and seven-time European champion across various relay events. Guy competes in 4 x 100m freestyle, 4 x 200m freestyle, and on the butterfly legs of 4 x 100m medley relays.

In 2021, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Guy became Olympic champion, winning gold in the 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay for Great Britain with Tom Dean, Duncan Scott, Matt Richards and Calum Jarvis. He won a second Olympic title, the inaugural mixed medley relay, with Adam Peaty, Anna Hopkin, Kathleen Dawson and Freya Anderson. His third Olympic title, and sixth Olympic medal came once more in the 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics, alongside Dean, Scott and Richards, (with Keiran Bird and Jack McMillan now taking heat swims). It was the first time in the history of the event that the exact same four swimmers had defended the Olympic title.

Early life

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Guy was born in Bury to Cath and Andrew Guy and has a younger brother whose name is Luke Guy.[2][3] Guy was educated at Forest Preparatory School, Timperley in Trafford, Greater Manchester.[4] When he was 13, he received a swimming scholarship to Millfield in Somerset.[5][6] He was a member of Trafford Metros swimming club before he moved to Somerset.[3]

Career

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Guy won his first major medal at the 2012 European Junior Championships in Antwerp where he finished in the bronze medal position in the 400m freestyle.[7]

In his breakthrough season in 2013, he won three medals at the World Junior Championships in Dubai, landing silver over 200m and 400m Freestyle then anchoring the British quartet to 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay gold in a Championship record. He followed that up with double gold (200m Freestyle, 4 × 200 m Freestyle) at his second European Junior Championships in Poznan.

He made his senior international debut at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, lowering his British Age Group record (17 yrs) to finish fifth in the 400m Freestyle, then setting another British Age Group record (17 yrs) as the lead-off in the 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay as the British quartet finished seventh. James became the European and World Junior Champion in the 4x200 and holds the Word Junior Record in those Events.

2014–15: Emergence and World titles

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Medal ceremony for 400m freestyle at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships

He came to senior prominence in 2014, Guy laid down a signal of intent with a hat-trick of golds at the British Gas Swimming Championships, taking the touch in the 200m Free, 400m Free and 200m Fly, and breaking the British record in the 400m Free. He represented England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, winning two relay medals, lowering the British record again to claim 400m Freestyle bronze for England. Thereafter, representing Great Britain, he took silver medals in the 400-metre freestyle at the FINA World Championships in both the short course (25 metre) and long course formats. On 4 August 2015, he won the 200-metre freestyle at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, the first British swimmer to win the event in its history.

He competed for England in the 4x100-metre medley relay and the 400-metre freestyle events at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he won a gold and bronze medal respectively.[8]

At the 200-metre freestyle event at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, Guy won the gold medal beating Olympic silver medallist Sun Yang of China by six hundredths of a second.[9][10]

At the same event, Guy struck gold again in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Team GB was third at the last take over, when Guy took over. He swam his 200 in a 1:44.7, the quickest time across the pool and securing Great Britain the gold medal for the first time at the worlds in this event.[citation needed]

2016: Relay success in Olympics debut

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At the Rio Olympics in 2016, Guy won silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay with Stephen Milne, Duncan Scott, and Dan Wallace, and a further silver in the 4x100m medley relay with Chris Walker-Hebborn, Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott. He came fourth in the individual 200m freestyle event.[1]

2017: World relay gold and transition to butterfly

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In February 2017 Guy, alongside coach Jol Fincke, moved his training base to the National Centre for Swimming at the University of Bath.[11]

At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. Guy won gold in the 4x200m freestyle with Duncan Scott, Stephen Milne and Nick Grainger in a time of seven minutes 1.70 seconds.[12] He shared the 100m butterfly bronze with Joseph Schooling of Singapore, both recording a time of 50.83 seconds.[13] In the 4x100m medley relay, he again won silver with the same Olympic line-up of Walker-Hebborn, Peaty and Scott.[14]

2018: Europeans, Commonwealth relay success and final 400m free

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At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held at the Gold Coast, Australia, Guy was part of the teams that won silver in the 4x200m freestyle, the 4x100m freestyle,[15][16] as well as in the 4x100m medley, finishing behind Australia in all three.[17] He also won a silver in the 100m butterfly,[18] and a bronze on 400m freestyle, after which he announced that he would no longer swim the 400 metre freestyle event in competition, focusing instead on the 100 metre butterfly.[19]

At the 2018 European Championships, Guy swam the anchor leg in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, and won the gold medal with Duncan Scott, Thomas Dean and Calum Jarvis.[20] The following day he won a second gold as part of the team in the mixed 4 × 100m medley,[21] then added a third on the final day of the competition by winning as part of the British team the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay. Individually, he took the bronze medal in the 100 metres butterfly on the final night.[22]

2019: Further World Championships success

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At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea, Guy won a bronze as part of the GB team in the 4 × 100 m mixed medley relay.[23]

In the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, he was part of the team together with Adam Peaty, Duncan Scott and Luke Greenbank. They won the final in a European record time of three minutes, 28.10 seconds, and the win is Britain's first gold medal in the event at the World Championships.[24][25]

2021: European Championships and Olympic gold

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At the European Championships held in Budapest in May 2021, Guy won three gold medals as part of the British team in the men's 4 x 100 m medley, mixed 4 × 100 metre medley, and mixed 4 × 200 metre freestyle relays.[26][27][28] He also won two silvers in both the men's 4 × 100 metre and 4 × 200 metre freestyle relays,[29][30] as well as an individual bronze in 100m butterfly.[31]

At the Tokyo Olympics, Guy swam the second leg in the final of the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, and won his first Olympic gold with Tom Dean, Duncan Scott, and Matt Richards in a time of six minutes 58.58 seconds.[32] He then won a second gold, swimming the butterfly leg in the mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay, and set a world record time of 3 minutes 37.58 seconds together with Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, and Anna Hopkin.[33]

Guy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to swimming.[34][35]

2022

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At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships held in Budapest, Guy won two bronzes as part of the team, in Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay and Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay.[36] In 2022, he was part of the team that won the gold medal in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[37]

2024: Olympic gold

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At the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Guy was in the final of the Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay together with Duncan Scott, Tom Dean, and Matt Richards, the same quartet who won in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics. They won the relay with a time of six minutes and 59.43 seconds, and became the first team to have successfully defended an Olympic swimming relay title with the same four swimmers.[38] They are also the first British team to have defended an Olympic relay title in swimming or athletics.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Goodwin, Stuart (14 August 2016). "Team GB's medley relay silver brings up best Olympic swimming haul since 1908". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Gilmour, Rod (15 June 2016). "James Guy: 'My boxing grandad is my inspiration'". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. ^ a b Baxter, Trevor (12 June 2014). "James gets a kick out of winning". Manchester Evening News.
  4. ^ "Former Forest Preparatory School pupil wins silver for Team GB at Rio Olympics | Forest Preparatory School". forestschool.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  5. ^ "British talent pool makes a splash". The Sunday Times. 31 July 2016.
  6. ^ Gilmour, Rod (20 May 2016). "Top Guy angles for Olympic swimming glory in Rio". The Daily Telegraph.
  7. ^ "James Guy Bio". Swim Swam.
  8. ^ "James Guy biography".
  9. ^ "James Guy wins World Swimming 200m freestyle gold". BBC Sport. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  10. ^ "James Guy wins historic freestyle gold as Adam Peaty sets breaststroke record". The Guardian. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  11. ^ "World Champion James Guy and swim coach Jol Finck loving 'fresh start' at University of Bath". Team Bath. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  12. ^ Hope, Nick (28 July 2017). "World Swimming Championships: Great Britain claim gold in 4x200m freestyle". BBC Sport.
  13. ^ Hope, Nick (27 July 2017). "World Swimming Championships: Britons Ben Proud and James Guy win bronze". BBC Sport.
  14. ^ Hope, Nick (30 July 2017). "World Swimming Championships: Adam Peaty helps GB to men's 4x100m medley silver". BBC Sport.
  15. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Duncan Scott and Siobhan-Marie O'Connor claim swimming gold > Relay silver for England". BBC Sport. 8 April 2018.
  16. ^ "English men win relay silver to close second day on Gold Coast". Swimming.org. 6 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Ben Proud claims gold, Caster Semenya breaks record". BBC Sport. 10 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Guy claims silver to boost medal tally". Swimming.org. 9 April 2018.
  19. ^ "England's Guy edged into 400m freestyle bronze". BBC Sport. 5 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Duncan Scott, James Guy Propel Great Britain to Men's 4×200 Free Relay Win". Swimming World. 5 August 2018.
  21. ^ "European Championships 2018: Peaty, Anderson, Guy & Davies win mixed relay gold". BBC Sport. 6 August 2018.
  22. ^ "European Championships 2018: Adam Peaty & Ben Proud win gold for GB". BBC Sport. 9 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Watch: GB clinch bronze in 4x100m medley relay". BBC Sport. 24 July 2019.
  24. ^ Field, Pippa (28 July 2019). "Adam Peaty: Winning relay world title with Great Britain 'better than Olympic gold'". The Telegraph.
  25. ^ Byrnes, Liz (28 July 2019). "Scott Splits 46.14 To Overhaul Adrian As Great Britain Take Gold in 4×100 Medley Relay: Russia Third". Swimming World.
  26. ^ "European Swimming Championships: GB win silver in men's 4x200m freestyle". BBC News. 19 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Adam Peaty shines as GB keep up perfect mixed medley relay record at European Swimming Championships". Eurosport. 20 May 2021.
  28. ^ Hope, Nick (23 May 2021). "European Aquatics Championships: Adam Peaty helps Britain win men's 4x100m medley gold". BBC Sport.
  29. ^ "European Swimming Championships: Great Britain win silver in men's 4x100m freestyle". BBC Sport. 17 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Great Britain on the podium again with men's relay silver". Swimming.org. 19 May 2021.
  31. ^ "2021 European Championships: Day 7 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. 23 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Toyko 2020: Bury swimmer James Guy wins Olympic gold with GB relay team".
  33. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Great Britain win 4x100m mixed medley relay gold". BBC Sports. 31 July 2021.
  34. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N20.
  35. ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Men's medley relay end World Champs with Budapest bronze". British Swimming. 25 June 2022.
  37. ^ "Jacob Peters". Team England. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  38. ^ Charlesworth, David (30 July 2024). "Great Britain quartet retain 4x200m relay title to give GB first Paris pool gold". The Independent.
  39. ^ Henry, Matthew (30 July 2024). "GB retain relay title to win first swimming gold". BBC.
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