Chris Cook (swimmer)

Chris Cook

Personal information
Full name	Christopher Antony Cook
Nickname	"Cooky"
National team	Great Britain
Born	(1979-05-05) 5 May 1979 (age 46) South Shields, England
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Breaststroke
Club	City of Newcastle
Medal record Men's swimming Representing Great Britain World Championships (SC) 2006 Shanghai 50 m breaststroke European Championships (SC) 2005 Trieste 4×50 m medley Representing   England Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne [1] 100 m breaststroke 2006 Melbourne 50 m breaststroke 2006 Melbourne 4×100 m medley

Christopher Anthony Cook (born 5 May 1979) is an English former competitive swimmer who swam for Great Britain in the Olympics, world championships and European championships, and competed for England in the Commonwealth Games. ^[2]

Cook specialises in the breaststroke, and took gold in the 50 ^[3] and 100 ^[4] metre finals representing England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He has also competed for Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens ^[5] and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. ^{[6] [7]} He was named North East Sports Personality of the Year at the North East Sport Awards in 2006. ^[8]

Living in Wallsend, he was coached by Ian Oliver at the City of Newcastle Swimming Club. ^[9]

Cook retired from swimming after the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008, ^[10] returning to compete in the Swimming World Cup in 2013. ^[11] He has continued to advocate for aquatics in North East England and around the United Kingdom through work as a motivational speaker. ^{[12] [13] [14]} He has also been involved in initiatives to get more people involved in swimming, such as the Big Swim campaign in 2011. ^[15]

Personal bests and records held

Event	Long course	Short course
50 m breaststroke	27.82	27.02
100 m breaststroke	59.88 NR	58.66
200 m breaststroke	2:12.87	2:09.73
Key NR:British

References

1. "Swimming Schedule and Results". Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
2. "Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games web site, Christopher Cook biography, retrieved December 17, 2006". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
3. Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games 50m Men's Breaststroke Final Results, 19 March 2006, retrieved 17 December 2006
4. "Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games 100m Men's Breaststroke Final Results, March 18, 2006, retrieved December 17, 2006". Archived from the original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
5. British Olympics Association web site, Athens 2004 Team web page, retrieved 17 December 2006.
6. "Chris Cook - Team GB". Team GB. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
7. "Olympian Chris Cook becomes swim teacher | Swim England blog". Swim England Qualifications. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
8. "Sport Briefs: [Echosport Edition]". Northern Echo. 5 December 2006. p. 18. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
9. "Swimming: I knew I could be the top dog, and I was right - The Journal". www.thejournal.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
10. Lawson, Ruth (26 February 2013). "Ex-Olympic swimmer re-enacts pool history". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
11. "Swimming: Cook turns up heat". Chronicle Live. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
12. Barron, Peter (16 October 2025). "Olympic swimmer re-opens school pool in Darlington after £250,000 refurbishment". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
13. Brown, Dominic (26 February 2024). "Olympic swimmer and double Commonwealth champion Chris Cook backs calls for re-opening of Dewsbury Sports Centre". Dewsbury Reporter. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
14. Chalmers, Graham (11 July 2022). "Olympic Gold medallist Inspires Harrogate Ladies' College pupils to follow their dreams". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
15. "Swim campaign aims to get more in water". Northern Echo. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2026.

External links

• British Swimming athlete profile
• Team GB athlete profile
• Cook's bio from the 2008 Olympics.