Max Robert Litchfield (born 4 March 1995) is a 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 represented Great Britain in the 2016 Olympics, and the LEN European Aquatics Championships. He also swam for England in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He competes internationally in

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

and medley swimming events. Litchfield studies physiotherapy at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

. He currently represents Energy Standard in the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

. Litchfield is the son of former professional footballer, Peter Litchfield. Peter Litchfield His younger brother Joe Litchfield is also a swimmer.

Career

Clubs

Litchfield began his swimming journey under the wing of coach Andrew Wallace, at Doncaster Dartes Swimming Club, before moving to train at City Of Sheffield's top junior squad, in 2013.https://www.healthspan.co.uk/advice/max-litchfield This move saw him qualify for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, shortly after, in the 400m Individual Medley. Max now trains at the British Swimming Loughborough National Centre (NC).

Achievements

Litchfield swam at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he finished 12th in both the 400m individual medley and the 1500m freestyle. He also turned out at the European Championships in Berlin in the same year where he finished fourth in the final of the 400m IM. He is a former World Junior Champion, having helped the 4 × 200 m freestyle team swim to gold in Dubai in 2013. At the Olympic trials in 2016 he clinched victory in the 400m IM in a time of 4:12.05 to dip under the qualification time for Rio 2016. He later competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

achieving a 5th place in his heat. In the finals session he improved his personal best further to place 4th in his first Olympic final. In 2018, he suffered an injury to the shoulder and withdrew from the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. At the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...

, Litchfield won a bronze in the

200 metre individual medley The 200-metre individual medley is a race in competitive swimming in which swimmers compete in all 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) in one race, with each leg being 50 metres in length. The stroke order is different ...

, his first major medal since the injury. He then won a silver in the 400 metre individual medley. For the 400 metre freestyle at the 2022 South Africa National Swimming Championships, Litchfield placed second, only behind

Matthew Sates Matthew Sates (born 28 July 2003) 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 m ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, to win the silver medal with a time of 3:51.37. SwimSA TV (5 April 2022)
"SA National Swimming Championships 2022"
''

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

''. Retrieved 6 April 2022. On the second day, he won the silver medal in the 200 metre freestyle in a time of 1:49.49 and a gold medal in the 400 metre individual medley with a

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

qualifying time of 4:15.39. SwimSA TV (7 April 2022)
"SA National Swimming Championships 2022 Day 2"
''

''. Retrieved 7 April 2022.Isaacson, David (7 April 2022)
"'Rebel' Matthew Sates qualifies for world champs in 200m freestyle"
''

TimesLIVE ''TimesLIVE'' is a South African online newspaper that started as ''The Times'' daily newspaper. ''The Times'' print version was an offshoot of ''Sunday Times'', to whose subscribers it was delivered gratis; non-subscribers paid R2.50 per edi ...

''. Retrieved 8 April 2022. The following day, he won the silver medal in the 200 metre butterfly, finishing less than two seconds behind

Chad le Clos Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos, OIS (born 12 April 1992) is a South African competitive swimmer who is an Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion. He is the African record, Commonwealth record, and South African record holder in the short ...

of South Africa with a 1:57.66. SwimSA TV (8 April 2022)
"National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 3"
''

''. Retrieved 8 April 2022. The sixth and final day of competition, he won the silver medal in the 200 metre individual medley with a time of 1:59.96. SwimSA TV (11 April 2022)
"National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 6"
''

''. Retrieved 11 April 2022."Pietermaritzburg swimming star Sates grabs another national title"
'' News24''. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022. His competing at the Championships was a culmination of a six-week stay in South Africa training with Chad le Clos in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. While he was pre-qualified for the World Championships, he was not named to the Great Britain roster for the year.Race, Retta (15 April 2022)
"23-Strong British Roster, Minus Max Litchfield, Revealed For Budapest"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

''. Retrieved 15 May 2022. He was initially named to the Team England roster for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, however was later replaced by Tony Robinson after withdrawing from the Games."Toby Robinson added to Team England swimming team for Commonwealth Games"
''

Swim England Swim England is the national governing body for swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and synchronised swimming in England. It forms part of British Swimming, a federation of the national governing bodies of England, Scotland ( Scott ...

''. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

International Swimming League

In the Autumn of 2019 he was member of the inaugural

swimming for the

Energy Standard International Swim Club In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat an ...

, who won the team title in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December.

Awards

The 2016 British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Sportsman of the Year

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Litchfield, Max 1995 births Living people English male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Sheffield Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Male medley swimmers Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics