Liam Tancock

Liam Tancock

Personal information
Full name	Liam John Tancock
Nickname(s)	The Tank, Fatboy[1]
Born	(1985-05-07) 7 May 1985 Exeter, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Backstroke
Club	Loughborough University SC
College team	Loughborough University
Coach	James Gibson
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain World Championships (LC) Gold 2009 Rome 50 m backstroke Gold 2011 Shanghai 50 m backstroke Bronze 2005 Montreal 50 m backstroke Bronze 2007 Melbourne 50 m backstroke Bronze 2007 Melbourne 100 m backstroke World Championships (SC) Gold 2008 Manchester 100 m backstroke Silver 2008 Manchester 50 m backstroke Silver 2008 Manchester 200 m medley Bronze 2008 Manchester 100 m medley European Championships (LC) Silver 2010 Budapest 50 m backstroke Bronze 2006 Budapest 4×100 m medley Bronze 2010 Budapest 100m backstroke European Championships (SC) Bronze 2005 Trieste 50 m backstroke Bronze 2005 Trieste 4×50 m medley Bronze 2005 Trieste 4×50 m freestyle Summer Universiade Gold 2005 Izmir 50 m backstroke Competitor for  England Commonwealth Games Gold 2006 Melbourne 100 m backstroke Gold 2010 Delhi 50 m backstroke Gold 2010 Delhi 100 m backstroke Silver 2006 Melbourne 50 m backstroke Silver 2006 Melbourne 4×100 m medley Silver 2010 Delhi 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Delhi 4×100 m medley

Liam John Tancock (born 7 May 1985 in Exeter, England) is an English backstroke swimmer who specializes in the 50m and 100m events. He holds the world record in the 50m backstroke, has become a three-time world champion and a five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. He competed in the Olympic Games in 2008 but did not earn a medal, and has qualified once more for the British team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Born on 7 May 1985,^[1] his first experience of swimming was waiting poolside while his older brother was learning to swim at a swimming school.^[2] Tancock was competing in local swimming competitions by the age of nine.^[1] Tancock played for Exeter Chiefs rugby team as a winger until he was thirteen.^[3][4] His coach, Jon Randall, convinced him to choose swimming over rugby.^[3] He attended Loughborough University where he studied sports science.^[5][6]

Swimming career

2000

As a junior for the Exeter Swimming Club, he competed at the British Winter Championship in 2000 at the age of 15. He broke four records and won more medals than any junior under the age of 16 had before him.

2001

He followed this with a gold medal at the 2001 Youth Olympic Games,

2002

Two golds in 2002 at the World Schools Championships.^[7]

2005

He competed at a senior level for the first time in 2005 at the 2005 World Aquatic Championships, where he took the bronze medal in the 50m backstroke.^[8]

2007

At the Japan International Open in August 2007, he won two gold medals. The first was in the 100m backstroke, which broke the European record time, and his second was in the 200m individual medley with a time of 1:59.19, which was only the second time he had finished with a time of under two minutes. It was a new British record, beating the previous record by a second and a half.^[9]

2008

Tancock won several medals at the 2008 World Short Course Championships in Manchester, including a British, European and Commonwealth record time of 50:14 to take the gold medal in the 100m backstroke. The time was only 0.14 seconds off the world record set by American Ryan Lochte.^[10] He also won silver in the 50m backstroke and 200m medley.^[11]

Competing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the men's 100m backstroke, Tancock finished in sixth position with a time of 53.39,^[12] some 0.21 seconds behind the bronze medal position.^[1] He also competed in the 200m individual medley, finishing in 8th place with a time of 2:00.76.^[12] His preferred event, the 50m backstroke, is not an Olympic event.^[13] Tancock said of the lack of a 50m event, "There is a 50m at every other major competition bar the Olympics. Don’t ask me why, but it never has been. It is not an issue but, of course, I would like it to be there".^[14]

2009

He broke his own world record winning the gold medal for 50m backstroke at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships. He had set a time of 24.08 in the semi finals, but furthered it with a time of 24.04 in the final. It was the second gold of the event for the British team, who took home their best ever tally of seven medals in total.^[15] He wore a bodyskin swimsuit which was subsequently banned by FINA at the start of 2010.^[16]

2010

In the same event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, he took the gold medal once more, breaking the Commonwealth Games record with a time of 24.62 in the final.^[17] He also took a second Commonwealth gold in the 100m backstroke with a time of 53.59.^[12] As of 2010, he was ranked second in the world for the 50m backstroke and third for the 100m,^[18] and following his success at the Commonwealth Games he was named BBC South West's Sportsman of the Year 2010.^[19]

The interior of the London Aquatics Centre, where Tancock qualified for the Olympics and will compete again during the 2012 Games

2011

At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Tancock retained his world championship crown with a time of 24.5 seconds in the 50m backstroke.^[20] It was the second occasion a British male swimmer had retained a world championship title,^[21] and he became the first man to retain the 50m backstroke title.^[4] He finished sixth in the 100m backstroke with a time of 52.76.^[14]

2012

On 5 March 2012, Tancock won the 100m backstroke final at the British trials with a time of 53.16 seconds in the event held at the London Aquatics Centre. The victory qualified him for the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the British team as the top two of each race qualified automatically.^[14][22] Whilst competing at the venue, which will be the swimming venue at the 2012 Games, he did not find the controversial ceiling and lighting set up distracting, putting it down to the training he conducted for the 2009 World Championships, which were held outside. Fellow British backstroke swimmer Gemma Spofforth had found the ceiling distracting and disorienting for backstroke swimmers; however, Tancock felt that it might provide British swimmers with an advantage as they would be more familiar with it.^[23] As part of his training regime for the Games, he has taken up ballet, kickboxing and rock climbing in order to improve on his position of sixth at the 2008 Games.^[21] He has also been pushing around his coach's car in order to improve his stamina and transfer his 50m backstroke form to the 100m event.^[24] He has no plans to retire and does not believe that the 2012 Games will be his last Olympics.^[2]

2013

Tancock achieved the World Championships qualifiing time, but the team coach only choose swimmers who had a chance of being at Rio 2016. As a result of the 50m backstroke not being an event at the Olympics, Tancock was not selected for the team.

2014

Personal bests and records held

Long course (50 m)

Event	Time		Date	Meet	Location	Ref
01 ! 100 m freestyle	48.76		02009-03-1919 Mar 2009	British Championships	United Kingdom, Sheffield ! Sheffield, United Kingdom	[25]
02 ! 50 m backstroke	24.04	WR	02009-08-022 Aug 2009	World Championships	Italy, Rome ! Rome, Italy	[15]
04 ! 100 m backstroke	52.73	NR	02009-07-2828 Jul 2009	World Championships	Italy, Rome ! Rome, Italy	[24]
06 ! 200 m individual medley	1:57.79		02008-04-011 Apr 2008	British Championships	United Kingdom, Sheffield ! Sheffield, United Kingdom	[25]

Short course (25 m)

Event	Time		Date	Meet	Location	Ref
01 ! 50 m backstroke	23.10	NR	02009-08-077 Aug 2009	Grand Prix	United Kingdom, Leeds ! Leeds, United Kingdom	[26]
02 ! 100 m backstroke	50.14	CR, ER, NR	02008-04-1010 Apr 2008	World SC Championships	United Kingdom, Manchester ! Manchester, United Kingdom	[10]
03 ! 100 m individual medley	52.22	NR	02008-04-1313 Apr 2008	World SC Championships	United Kingdom, Manchester ! Manchester, United Kingdom	[25]
04 ! 200 m individual medley	1:53.10	NR	02008-04-1111 Apr 2008	World SC Championships	United Kingdom, Manchester ! Manchester, United Kingdom	[25]

Legend: WR – World record; ER – European record; CR – Commonwealth record; NR – British record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

Personal life

Liam is the youngest of 2 boys born for mum Kim; his brother is 2 years older. His "fatboy" nickname originated from his older brother, although he didn't mean it in a negative sense.^[16] Liam is in a relationship with fellow swimmer Caitlin McClatchey.^[1][27] He currently trains at and swims for Loughborough University.^[25] He is a supporter of Exeter City association football club,^[1] and Exeter Chiefs Rugby club^[28] Liam is now trained as a level two swimming coach.^[3] He is an ambassador for Speedo,^[16] For Goodness Shakes,^[29] and Gilette.^[14]

References

External links

• Personal Website
• Liam Tancock on Twitter
• British Swimming athlete profile
• British Olympic Association Profile
• British Swimming results and rankings database entry