| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Craig Benson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  Great Britain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 April 1994 Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | University of Stirling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Craig Benson (born 30 April 1994) is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who specialised in breaststroke. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics and European Championships. [1] [2]
Benson attended The James Young High School in Livingston, West Lothian. [3]
In 2011 Benson, at 17 years old, was selected for the 2011 European Junior Swimming Championships in Belgrade, where he won a silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke, [4] was fourth in the 50-metre breaststroke, and also a member of the fourth-place 4x100-metre medley relay. [5]
A few weeks later Benson won the World Junior men's championship for the 100-metre breaststroke at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru in 2011 and was second in the 50-metre breaststroke. He holds the world junior men's record for the 100-metre breaststroke. [6] [7]
Benson then won the 50-metre, 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke and won silver in the 4x100-metre medley relay at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games on the Isle of Man. [8] [7] and was named Athlete of the Games. [9]
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the men's 100-metre breaststroke, finishing in sixth place in the second semifinal, failing to reach the final. He also swam in the heats of the men's 4x100-metre medley relay. He was the youngest member of the Great Britain swimming squad at these Olympics. [10]
Benson, won a bronze medal at the 2012 European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, 0.04 of a second behind the winner, Olympic swimmer Dănilă Artiomov. [2] He also swam in the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France, and was part of the medley relay squad that broke the British record. [11]
He was awarded the Sunday Mail Young Sports Personality of the Year award in 2012. [12]
In 2013 he was swimming for Warrender Baths Club [13] under coaches Laurel Bailey and Kris Gilchrist. [14] [13] Benson was fourth in the 100m breatstrolke at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. [15] Benson moved to the University of Stirling with a sports scholarship following the 2014 Commonwealth Games. [16] He now studies and resides in the city.
At the 2015 World University Games, Benson won two bronze medals in the 100- and 200-metre breastroke events. He also won the 200-metre breaststroke at the US Open Championships, beating Michael Phelps in the process. He won a silver at the 200m Breaststroke at the 2016 FINA Swimming World Cup meet held in Dubai. [17]
At the 2016 European Championships in London, he was part of the team that won gold in the 4x100 metre mixed medley. He swam in the heats but not in the final. [18] [19] He also represented Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but did not get beyond the semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke. [20]
He confirmed his retirement at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, earning a bronze medal from swimming the heats of the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay.
Kenneth King-him To was a Hong Kong Australian swimmer who practised individual medley, freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke. He won 6 medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, was the male overall winner of the 2012 FINA Swimming World Cup and was a World Championships silver medallist. He was the holder of 16 Hong Kong national swimming records.
Felipe Ferreira Lima is a Brazilian swimmer. He has six medals in World Championships: two in long course, and four in short course, highlighting his bronze medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2013 World Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the men's 100 metre breaststroke, finishing in 8th place in his semi-final and failing to reach the final.
Vladimir Viktorovich Morozov is a retired Russian competitive swimmer and Olympic medalist. He is the former world record holder in the short course 100-metre individual medley, the current, World Cup record and Russian national record holder in the 100-metre individual medley and 100-metre freestyle, and Russian record holder in the 50-metre freestyle. He also holds the European record for the 100-metre individual medley. Formerly he held the Russian national record in the 50-metre backstroke and the 50-metre butterfly, and held the European and Russian records in the 50-metre breaststroke.
Daiya Seto is a Japanese professional swimmer who specializes in individual medley, butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle events. He holds the world record in the short course 400-metre individual medley and formerly held the world record in the short course 200-metre butterfly. He won the gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022 world short course championships, as well as at the 2013, 2015, and 2019 world long course championships.
Warrender Baths Club is a swimming club which originated at Warrender Baths in Edinburgh, Scotland, established in 1888. In 2013 the Club had 600 members with an active membership of 350 swimmers training at nine swimming pools across Edinburgh. Their swimmers compete in a wide range of international and national competitions including the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Warrender has been called the premier swimming club in Scotland and claims to be one of the oldest, most successful swimming clubs in the UK.
Ross Murdoch is a Scottish competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics in 2016 and 2020, the FINA World Championships and the LEN European Championships, and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games from 2014 to the present. Between 2014 and 2016, Murdoch became a World, European and Commonwealth champion.
Adam George Peaty is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in the breaststroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first by a male British swimmer in 24 years, and retained the title at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title.
Louise Maria Hansson is a Swedish competitive swimmer, a member of Helsingborgs SS.
Sydney Pickrem is a Canadian competitive swimmer who competed for Texas A&M University in College Station. A three-time Olympian, she placed sixth in the 200m individual medley at the 2016 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics as part of the Canadian 4×100 metre medley relay team. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she participated in the women’s 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke, but finished out of medal contention. Accomplished in international competition, she is a seven-time World Aquatics Championships medallist.
Anton Mikhailovich Chupkov is a retired Russian competitive swimmer. He is the European record holder in the long course 200 metre breaststroke and the Russian record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke. He formerly held the world record in the long course 200 metre breaststroke. At the 2015 European Games he won four gold medals in individual and relay events. He won the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 2017 and 2019 World Aquatics Championships.
Duncan William MacNaughton Scott is a Scottish swimmer representing Great Britain at the FINA World Aquatics Championships, LEN European Aquatics Championships, European Games and the Olympic Games, and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Scott made history after winning four medals - more than any other British athlete at a single Olympic Games - in Tokyo 2020, simultaneously becoming Great Britain's most decorated swimmer in Olympic history. With an additional gold and silver medal in Paris 2024 bringing his total to eight, Scott became Scotland's most-decorated Olympian, and is currently tied with Bradley Wiggins as the second most-decorated Olympian in British history. Scott is the only athlete in the top three to still be actively competing, and the only member of the top four who is not a track cyclist.
Kyle Chalmers, is an Australian competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 100 metre freestyle, 4×100 metre medley relay, and long course 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay. He is the Oceanian and Australian record holder in the short course 50 metre butterfly and 50 metre freestyle.
Michael Charles Andrew is an American competitive swimmer and an Olympic gold medalist. He was the 2016 world champion in the 100 meter individual medley. At his first Olympic Games, the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal and set a world record as part of the 4x100 meter medley relay, placed fourth in the 100 meter breaststroke, fourth in the 50 meter freestyle, and fifth in the 200 meter individual medley. Andrew's swims in 2021 at the 2020 Olympics made him the first swimmer to represent the United States at an Olympic Games in an individual breaststroke event as well as another individual event other than an individual medley in the then-125-year-history of swimming at the Summer Olympics. He has won 78 medals at Swimming World Cup circuits.
Richard Lockhart is a New Zealand swimmer. He competed in two events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Lockhart also represented New Zealand in the 1983, 1985 and 1987 World Student Games.
James Wilby is a British competitive swimmer who specialises in the breaststroke. Wilby is the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion in 200 metre breaststroke, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion in 100 metre breaststroke, and the 2022 European champion in 200 metre breaststroke. He formed part of the Great Britain team that won World Championship gold in the men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay in 2019, and the England team that won the Commonwealth Games Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay in 2014 and 2022.
Andrew Wilson is a retired American swimmer. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he placed 6th in the 100 meter breaststroke, 17th in the 200 meter breaststroke, and won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, for his efforts in the prelims of the relay.
Izaac Keith Stubblety-Cook is an Australian swimmer. He is a former world record holder in the long course 200 metre breaststroke.
Grayson Bell is an Australian swimmer. He competed in the men's 50 metre breaststroke event at the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships, in Hangzhou, China.
Matthew Sates is a South African swimmer. He is the African record holder in the short course 200 metre freestyle, 400 metre freestyle, and 200 metre individual medley as well as the South African record holder in the 400 metre individual medley. He is the 2022 World Short Course champion in the 200 metre individual medley and bronze medalist in the 400 metre individual medley. At the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships, he won the NCAA title in the 500 yard freestyle. For the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, he was the overall male winner, earning a total of 18 medals, including 13 gold medals.
Vladislav Gerasimenko is a Russian competitive swimmer. He is a world junior record holder in the long course 4×100 metre medley relay, swimming a 59.53 for the breaststroke portion of the relay. He is a four-time medalist at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and a five-time medalist at the World Junior Swimming Championships, spanning breaststroke and freestyle disciplines. He competed at the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships, placing sixteenth in the preliminaries of the 50 metre breaststroke.
