Simon Paul Militis (born 21 September 1977,

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

) is a male English former competitive swimmer, who specialized in backstroke and individual medley events.

Swimming career

He is a single-time Olympian (2000), a British swimming champion in the 200 metres backstroke (1996 & 2001) and 400 metres individual medley (2000 & 2001), and a bronze medalist at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, representing his adopted nation

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 ...

. During his sporting career, Militis also trained for the Portsmouth Northsea Swim Club under head coach Chris Nesbitt. Militis competed in two swimming events, as a member of

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

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He eclipsed FINA A-standards of 2:00.75 (200 m backstroke) and 4:20.07 (400 m individual medley) from the British Olympic Trials in Sheffield, England. On the second day of the Games, Militis placed twenty-fourth in the 400 m individual medley. Swimming in heat four, he held off Austria's Michael Windisch to save a seventh spot by 0.24 of a second in 4:24.38. Three days later, in the 200 m backstroke, Militis challenged seven other swimmers in heat six, including his teammate

Adam Ruckwood Adam Ruckwood (born 13 September 1974) is a male English former competitive swimmer and backstroke specialist. Swimming career Ruckwood represented Great Britain at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992 (Barcelona, Spain). At th ...

, Australia's top favorite Matt Welsh, and U.S. world record holder

Lenny Krayzelburg Lenny Krayzelburg (born September 28, 1975, as Leonid Krayzelburg; uk, Леонід Крайзельбург, russian: link=no, Леони́д Кра́йзельбург) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and form ...

. He fell short to sixth place by just 0.09 seconds apart from Ruckwood in a time of 2:01.20. Militis missed the semifinals by only a small fraction of a second, as he placed nineteenth overall in the prelims. In 2001, Militis became the first ever British swimmer to race under a 4:20 barrier in the 400 m individual medley from the national trials, breaking a new British record of 4.19.90. He also powered home with a 200 m backstroke title in 2:02.73, more than a second off his personal best. At the

in Manchester, England, Militis enjoyed the race by a massive roar of a delightful home crowd, as he wrested a bronze in 2:01.04, handing an entire medal lock for Great Britain with a one–two–three finish.

References

External links

Manchester 2002 ProfileBBC Sport Feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Militis, Simon 1977 births Living people English male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Male backstroke swimmers Male medley swimmers Jersey male swimmers Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games

Swimming career

See also

References

External links