Craig Benson (swimmer)

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Craig Benson
Personal information
Full nameCraig Benson
National team Great Britain
Born (1994-04-30) 30 April 1994 (age 30)
Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
ClubUniversity of Stirling
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Great Britain
European Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2016 London 4×100 m mixed medley
Summer Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Gwangju 100 m breaststroke
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Gwangju 200 m breaststroke
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m medley

Craig Benson (born 30 April 1994) is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who specialised in breaststroke. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics and European Championships.[1][2]

Early life

Benson attended The James Young High School in Livingston, West Lothian.[3]

Career

In 2011 Benson, at 17 years old, was selected for the 2011 European Junior Swimming Championships in Belgrade, where he won a silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke,[4] was fourth in the 50-metre breaststroke, and also a member of the fourth-place 4x100-metre medley relay.[5]

A few weeks later Benson won the World Junior men's championship for the 100-metre breaststroke at the

FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru in 2011 and was second in the 50-metre breaststroke. He holds the world junior men's record for the 100-metre breaststroke.[6][7]

Benson then won the 50-metre, 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke and won silver in the 4x100-metre medley relay at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games on the Isle of Man.[8][7] and was named Athlete of the Games.[9]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the men's 100-metre breaststroke, finishing in sixth place in the second semifinal, failing to reach the final. He also swam in the heats of the men's 4x100-metre medley relay. He was the youngest member of the Great Britain swimming squad at these Olympics.[10]

Benson, won a bronze medal at the 2012 European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, 0.04 of a second behind the winner, Olympic swimmer Dănilă Artiomov.[2] He also swam in the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France, and was part of the medley relay squad that broke the British record.[11]

He was awarded the Sunday Mail Young Sports Personality of the Year award in 2012.[12]

In 2013 he was swimming for

sports scholarship following the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[16]
He now studies and resides in the city.

At the

2015 World University Games, Benson won two bronze medals in the 100- and 200-metre breastroke events. He also won the 200-metre breaststroke at the US Open Championships, beating Michael Phelps in the process. He won a silver at the 200m Breaststroke at the 2016 FINA Swimming World Cup meet held in Dubai.[17]

At the

2016 Rio Olympics, but did not get beyond the semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke.[20]

He confirmed his retirement at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, earning a bronze medal from swimming the heats of the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay.

References

  1. ^ "Craig Benson". London2012.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b Chris Tait, "Craig Benson could soon be living his dream", The Herald (24 July 2012). Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Livingston swimmer clinches hat-trick of medals at Sainsbury's UK School Games". Daily Record. 9 September 2010.
  4. ^ Craig Lord, "Craig Benson", The Times (7 March 2012). Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Successful European campaign for Warrender Archived 12 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine", SwimEasy (7 December 2011). Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  6. ^ "FINA World Junior Championships: Several More Meet Records Fall on Day Two". Swimming World Magazine. 17 August 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  7. ^ a b Craig Benson's Profile Page Archived 27 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Swimming. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  8. ^ Competitor Details, Craig Benson Archived 9 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Commonwealth Youth Games 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Craig Benson named Athlete of the Games at Commonwealth Games Dinner", Scottish Swimming. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  10. ^ Alistair Watson, "Swimming sensation Craig Benson makes Olympic debut in London", The West Lothian Courier (2 August 2012). Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  11. ^ "Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay Heats Results". Omega Timing. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  12. ^ Gordon Waddell, "Sunday Mail Sports Awards: London 2012 stars win standing ovation at inspirational ceremony", The Daily Record (9 December 2012). Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Swimming: No hangover for Benson as he follows path of a legend", The Herald (10 April 2013). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Craig Benson". Team GB. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Commonwealth Games – Swimming: Men's 100m Breaststroke". UK: BBC Sport. 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Stirling scholarships brimming with sporting excellence". University of Stirling. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  17. ^ Race, Loretta (3 August 2016). "Scottish Swimmer Craig Benson Is Driven To Succeed in Rio". SwimSwam.
  18. ^ "4x100 m Medley – Mixed Preliminary" (PDF). London 2016.
  19. ^ "European glory for Stirling swimmers". University of Stirling. 23 May 2016.
  20. ^ "Swimming: Men's 200m Breaststroke". BBC Sport.
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