Nicholas Gillingham, (born 22 January 1967) is an English former competitive swimmer, active in the 1980's and 1990's. Born in Walsall, he represented Great Britain in the Olympics,
FINA
FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...
World championships and European championships, as well as representing England in the Commonwealth Games. Medalling in two Olympic Games in 1988 and 1992, he was a World (short course), European and Commonwealth champion in his specialist event, the 200 metres breaststroke. His career broadly overlapped with fellow British breaststroker and Olympic 100 metre breaststroke champion,
Adrian Moorhouse.
Swimming career
Olympic Games
Gillingham participated in three consecutive
Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. At the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
in Seoul, he won the silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke in a Commonwealth record of 2:14.12, followed by a bronze medal in the same event four years later at the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
in Barcelona in another Commonwealth record of 2:11.29. Although better known as a 200m breaststroke swimmer, Gillingham was also a world class 100m swimmer and was ranked first in the world in 1992 with his Commonwealth record of 1:01.33 from the British Olympic trials. However, he sustained a leg injury during the
Olympics which impaired his performance in the 100m final where he finished 7th, half a second slower than his heat time.
Commonwealth Games
Gillingham won seven
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 ...
medals; he represented
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and won a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres medley relay and a bronze medal in the 200 metres breaststroke, at the
1986 Commonwealth Games in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. Four years later he represented
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and won two bronze medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres breaststroke, at the
1990 Commonwealth Games in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. At the
1994 Commonwealth Games
The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...
he won the gold medal in the 200 metres breaststroke, the silver medal in the 100 metres breaststroke and a bronze medal in medley relay.
Other
In August 1989 in the
European Championships, he equalled the existing
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
in the long-course 200-metre breaststroke in a time of 2:12.90, only to co-hold it for a single day before the other record co-holder, American
Mike Barrowman
Michael Ray Barrowman (born December 4, 1968) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Barrowman was one of the pioneers of the "wave-style" breaststroke technique. Prior to attending Univer ...
, lowered the record again.
He was trained by
Tim Jones and also won the world title at the first inaugural
1993 FINA Short Course World Championships in
Palma de Mallorca. He broke three world, ten European, nine Commonwealth and seventeen British records during his career and won 17 major championships.
He dominated the ASA National Championships in the breaststroke events, following on from his predecessor
Adrian Moorhouse and won the
100 metres breaststroke title in 1992 and 1993 and the
200 metres breaststroke on eight occasions (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995).
Personal life
Gillingham was awarded the
MBE in 1993 for 'services to swimming' and retired from full-time competitive sport in 1996. After retiring, he established a sports communications business focusing on sports marketing, development & events. Recently, Gillingham took part in a scheme called Young Ambassadors, promoting youth sport development in the North East of England at Loughborough.
See also
*
List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
This is the complete list of men's Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming from 1930 to 2022.
Current program
50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
50 metre backstroke
...
*
List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
This is the complete list of men's Olympic medalists in swimming.
Men's events 50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
100 metre backstroke
200 metre ...
*
World record progression 200 metres breaststroke
The first world record in the men's 200 metres breaststroke in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1908 and the first world record in the women's 200 metres breaststro ...
References
External links
Profile Nick Gillingham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillingham, Nick
1967 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Walsall
English male swimmers
Olympic swimmers of Great Britain
Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England
World record setters in swimming
Olympic bronze medalists in swimming
World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists in swimming
Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games