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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

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

Career

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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 Warrender Baths Club[13] under coaches Laurel Bailey and Kris Gilchrist.[14][13] Benson was fourth in the 100m breatstrolke at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.[15] Benson moved to the University of Stirling with a 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 European Championships in London, he was part of the team that won gold in the 4x100 metre mixed medley. He swam in the heats but not in the final.[18][19] He also represented Britain 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 4x100m medley relay.

References

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  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". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. 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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