Christopher James Walker-Hebborn (born 1 July 1990) is an English

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal at the latter. A successful youth and junior athlete, Walker-Hebborn achieved a breakout year in 2014, winning two Commonwealth Games titles and three European Championship titles, including the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

and

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

100-metre backstroke gold medals. A key member of the England and Great Britain medley relay teams, he formed part of the world record breaking, world title winning Great Britain mixed medley team at the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia hosted this event for the first time. T ...

. He also won gold medals as part of the England men's medley relay at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, and both men's and mixed medlay relay teams at the

2014 European Aquatics Championships The 2014 European Aquatics Championships took place from 13 to 24 August 2014 in Berlin, Germany. It was the 31st edition of the championships, and was held in a temporary facility placed in the centre of the Berlin Velodrome. Great Britain head ...

, again with Great Britain. In 2016 he was part of the Great Britain team to retain both the men's and mixed medley relay titles, his fourth and fifth European golds. At the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

he won a silver medal as part of the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay.

Early career

He is currently based at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, where he trains at one of

British Swimming British Swimming is the national governing body of swimming, water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and open water in Great Britain.

's Intensive Training Centres. As a teenager he spent two years at the British Offshore Centre in Australia at

The Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , f ...

, from 2006 to 2008. In March 2009, he qualified for his first senior

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

after beating event favourite James Goddard in the 200 m backstroke at the British Championships, held in Sheffield. Walker-Hebborn's preliminary heat performance in Rome secured him a place in the semifinals where, as one of the few swimmers not wearing the controversial full body suit. This is when he set a new British record to become a finalist. The record was to stand only briefly, as he broke it again in the finals (1:56.05), placing 9th. He was offered a scholarship at Florida State University in January 2009 but returned to his Bury St. Edmunds home after just a few weeks due to lack of long course training.

Later career

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the men's 100 and 200 m backstroke, finishing in 20th and 22nd respectively. In 2014, he won gold at the

in the 100 m backstroke, in a new Games record of 53.12 seconds. He was also part of the English medley relay team that won gold in a Games record, and the freestyle team that won bronze. At the 2016, he teamed with

Adam Peaty Adam George Peaty (born 28 December 1994) is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in the breaststroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first by a male British swimmer in 24 years, ...

, James Guy and Duncan Scott in the GB team that won a silver medal in the men's medley relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also finished in 11th in the men's 100 m backstroke. Kazan 2015 - UK wins gold and set WR at mixed medley relay

Kazan 2015 - UK wins gold and set WR at mixed medley relay

Competition results

References

External links

Official Chris Walker-Hebborn website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker-Hebborn, Chris 1990 births Living people English male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Male backstroke swimmers Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Swimmers from Greater London Sportspeople from Enfield, London World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) World record setters in swimming Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Team Bath swimmers Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games