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Liam Tancock

Ones to Watch

Growing up Liam really enjoyed playing sports. Liam started swimming at the age of five and by eight years old he was swimming competitively for Exeter City Swimming Club.

Fascinating facts

Liam supports Exeter Town
His favourite movie is Shawshank Redemption

Liam also played rugby and by the age of ten he played for Exeter RFC as a winger. In 2003 Liam decided that he wanted to further his swimming career so moved to Loughborough University where he studied sports science. Liam chose Loughborough University due to the great coaching in a mixture of long course (50m) and short course (25m) pools.

On 2 April 2008, he set a new world 50 m backstroke record of 24.47 seconds at the British Olympic trials at the Ponds Forge pool, Sheffield. On 1st August 2009 he set a new world 50 m backstroke record of 24.08s in the semi-final at the Rome World Aquatics Championships and the following day he won the gold medal beating another world record with a time of 24.04s. The 2010 season brought more success for Liam as he claimed two golds and a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

On the 1st August 2011, in Shanghai, Liam successfully defended his World Championship title in the 50m backstroke winning by seven-hundredths of a second from European champion Camille Lacourt of France with South African Gerhard Zandberg in third.

Liam is one of the most consistent top-class performers on the British team having taken five world medals since winning bronze in the same event on his senior international debut in Montreal in 2005. Liam will now concentrate on the 100m backstroke for next year.