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James WILBY
Sport Swimming
NOC Great Britain   
GenderMen
Born12 Nov 1993 in Glasgow, SCO
Height1.91 m
 Human Interest 
Further Personal Information
Residence
 Loughborough, ENG
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team
 National Centre Loughborough: England
Further Personal Information
Higher education
 Chemistry - Loughborough University: England
General Interest
Hobbies
 Photography, filmmaking, computer coding. (Twitter profile, 28 Oct 2021)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport?
 "I got interested in competitive swimming because my swimming teacher said I was pretty good at it and I should consider looking into joining York City Baths Club."
General Interest
Hero / Idol
 US American football coach Vince Lombardi, US American football player Ray Lewis, US swimmer Michael Phelps. (loughboroughsport.com, 04 Oct 2013)
Sport Specific Information
Name of coach
 Dave Hemmings [club]
When and where did you begin this sport?
 He learned to swim at an early age, and began competing at age nine.
Further Personal Information
Occupation
 Athlete
Languages
 English
General Interest
Sporting philosophy / motto
 "It's during the struggle that the opportunity to learn is greatest." (Instagram profile, 28 Nov 2019)
Other information
 MISSING OUT ON RIO
After narrowly missing out on selection for the 2015 World Championships, he targeted a place on the Great Britain team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. However, in January 2016 he was diagnosed with glandular fever. He was back in the pool in April 2016 but a month later he began suffering from severe tonsillitis, and he ultimately missed the 2016 Games. "My throat was beginning to really swell down one side and doctors sent me straight to hospital because they were worried I may soon struggle to breathe. I didn't let what happened drag me down completely though, and although it was a roller coaster I never thought, 'That's it'." (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)

FRIENDLY RIVALRY
He has a friendly but competitive relationship with fellow British swimmer Adam Peaty. He won silver behind Peaty in the 100m breaststroke at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. "We chat and we get along. It's really good to have that good bit of competition. Sometimes we'll have a bit of a race-off but it's really good spirited because we're both competitive and push each other along. We know there's no point getting too heated. I think every athlete in the end can be beaten at some point. It takes a perfect race, but you know it's always just in the name of good competition and good sports." (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 13 Apr 2021; Twitter profile, 04 Dec 2019; bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)

TEAM PLAYER
He swam in the men's 4x100m medley relay heats at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, but was not part of the British team that went on to win gold in the final. During the medal ceremony he was captured by television cameras wearing a t-shirt on which he wrote 'Mum, I swam the heat!' with a black marker pen. "It's a strange one swimming in the heat but not in the final, so the way I try and wrap my head around it is that I'm doing a job, which is helping the team progress to the final by swimming my best. That then enables others to have that extra gear to step up in the final, and say Adam [Peaty] to be able to rest during the heats and focus on the final. It's easy when you look at it as a team sport and I'm very proud of being able to get a team onto that podium." (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)
Injuries
 In May 2016 he was diagnosed with severe tonsillitis and was hospitalised as a result. (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)

In January 2016 he was diagnosed with mononucleosis [glandular fever] and had to take three months off from training. (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)
Memorable sporting achievement
 Winning gold in the 200m breaststroke at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)
Most influential person in career
 His mother, and his first coaches Dawn Martland and James Richards. (swimming.org, 02 Jul 2021)

 Competition Highlights
Olympic Games
Rank Year Venue Event Result
5 2021 Tokyo, JPN 100m Breaststroke 58.96
6 2021 Tokyo, JPN 200m Breaststroke 2:08.19
  2021 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
World Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
17 2024 Doha, QAT 100m Breaststroke 1:00.49
3 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:45.09
Semifinal 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 100m Breaststroke 59.54
5 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:43.20
10 2022 Budapest, HUN 200m Breaststroke 2:09.85
4 2022 Budapest, HUN 100m Breaststroke 58.93
3 2022 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:31.31
4 2022 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:41.65
Semifinal 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Breaststroke 2:08.52
2 2019 Gwangju, KOR 100m Breaststroke 58.46
1 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
3 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
Heats 2017 Budapest, HUN 200m Breaststroke 2:11.51
European Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
1 2022 Rome, ITA 200m Breaststroke 2:08.96
4 2022 Rome, ITA 100m Breaststroke 59.54
19 2022 Rome, ITA 50m Breaststroke 27.93
3 2022 Rome, ITA 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:44.69
4 2022 Rome, ITA 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:33.60
8 2021 Budapest, HUN 200m Breaststroke 2:10.34
3 2021 Budapest, HUN 100m Breaststroke 58.58
Semifinal 2021 Budapest, HUN 50m Breaststroke 27.36
1 2021 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
2 2018 Glasgow, SCO 200m Breaststroke 2:08.39
2 2018 Glasgow, SCO 100m Breaststroke 58.64
Heats 2018 Glasgow, SCO 50m Breaststroke 27.44
1 2018 Glasgow, SCO 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
European Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Heats 2019 Glasgow, SCO 200m Breaststroke 2:07.71
Semifinal 2019 Glasgow, SCO 100m Breaststroke 57.76
Heats 2019 Glasgow, SCO 50m Breaststroke 27.27