Marco Antonio Loughran (born 24 March 1989) is an English-born British competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who has represented Great Britain at the Olympics and FINA world championships, European Championships and Wales in the Commonwealth Games. He has also competed under Team Europe at Duel in the Pool 2011. Loughran is from Tolworth, a town in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. In high school, he was awarded a swimming scholarship to The Southport School in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. While there, Marco was known as one of the "offshore boys". He then accepted a full athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he trained and competed with coach

Gregg Troy Gregg Troy (born December 19, 1950) is an American professional and Olympic swimming coach. As of April 2021, he is the head coach for the Cali Condors, which is part of the International Swimming League. Until 2018, he was the head coach of the ...

's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) competition in 2009 and 2010. In two American college swimming seasons, he received three All-American honours. Winning 4 golds (200yard backstroke 2009 as a freshman, 100/200 backstroke and 4x50 Medley relay 2010) at SEC’s clean sweeping the Men’s backstroke category. In both of years Marco swam at UF, he recorded the fastest Men’s 200 yard backstroke in the NCAA prior to the March finals. In 2008 Loughran recorded a Top-10 European ranking in the Men’s 200 m Backstroke and at the time of competition was ranked 9th globally. He qualified for both the Men’s 100/200m backstroke at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Loughran competed in the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

in Rome, Italy. He raced in the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke events. 2010 swam for Wales at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

held in Delhi, India. He came 4th (100m backstroke) 5th (50m backstroke) 6th (200m backstroke). In 2012 he competed for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

at the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. He swam in the men's 200m backstroke and finished 18th, missing the semi-finals. He was the highest placing Team GB male athlete in this event. In 2013 he won the men's 50-metre backstroke at the British Championships, held in Sheffield. He competed again for Wales at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. In June 2015, Loughran and his girlfriend

Jeanette Ottesen Jeanette Ottesen (born 30 December 1987) is a Danish competitive swimmer who participated at the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. In total she has won 50 international medals. Records She currently holds the Danish record in the ...

were attacked in a road rage incident in Copenhagen, during which he sustained several injuries. In 2016, he and Jeanette wed at a private ceremony in Copenhagen and welcomed their baby daughter Billie-Mai in December 2017.

Personal life

He has been in a relationship with Danish swimmer

since 2014. Loughran and Ottesen got engaged in early 2017. In June 2017, they announced that they are expecting their first child. They were married in Copenhagen on July 16, 2017. In December, 2017 Ottesen gave birth to a girl. In December 2022

announced they were getting divorced. Loughran's father hails from

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

, Wales whilst his mother is from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

References

External links

British Swimming athlete profile
1989 births Living people English male swimmers Welsh male swimmers Florida Gators men's swimmers Male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Sportspeople from Guildford Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Wales People educated at the Southport School {{UK-swimming-bio-stub