Simonas Bilis was born 11 November 1993 in Panevėžys, Lithuania, and attended High School at Panevezys Vytautas Zemkalnis. He swam for his hometown's Panevezys Zemynos Club and received coaching from Ina Simeliūnaitė.[1][2]
Bilis swam for North Carolina State University (NCSU) from 2012-2016, where he was trained and mentored by Coaches Todd DeSorbo and Braden Holloway.[3] He was an ACC Male Swimmer of the Year in both 2015 and 2016. While at NCSU, he earned All-America honors first as a Freshman in 2013 in the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relay, and in his Sophomore years was a 2014 All-America swimmer in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the 400 and 800 freestyle relays.[2]
As a Junior, he won 2014 All-America Honors in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle and the 400 and 800 freestyle relays, and expanding his most recognized events as a Senior took 2016 All America Honors as a Senior in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relays, and the 200 Medley Relay.[2]
In NCAA Championship competition including 2015 in Iowa City, and 2016 in Atlanta, he had a first place in the 4x100 yard freestyle relay in 2016, seven second place finishes in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle and the 4x50, 4x100, and 4x200-yard freestyle relays and two third places in the 50 and 200-yard freestyle events.[2]
In 2016, he broke the Lithuanian national record with a 48.64 in the men's 100m freestyle and qualified for the 2016 Olympics.[4]
2016-2020 Olympics
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he competed in the 50 and 100 meter freestyles, and the 4x100-meter medley. In his best showing, Bilis finished 8th overall in the 50-meter freestyle where he made the finals, and swam a time of 22.08, finishing less than a second from contending for the bronze medal. The medal order was Anthony Ervin of America with the Gold, Florent Manaudou of Italy for the Silver, and American Nathan Adrian for the bronze with a time of 21.49.[1]
Bilis placed 30th overall in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.16, and 14th overall in the 4x100-meter Medley relay where his team recorded a combined time of 3:35.90, and he had the honor of swimming the last 100 leg as the anchor swimmer.[1]
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where sixteen countries competed, the Lithuanian team was disqualified in the second heat.[1]
International Swimming League
In the Autumn of 2019 he was a member of the inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) a professional swimming organization. He swam for the ISL's Energy Standard Swim Club, winning the team title in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December, 2019.[5] Since 2019 he has trained with the club full-time.
In November 2022 Bilis announced his retirement from competitive swimming.[6]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
