Stephen Benjamin Parry (born 2 March 1977) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. He competed internationally in 100-metre and 200-metre

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

events.

Career

After joining Stockport Metro, he set a Commonwealth record at the 2000 US Nationals in Seattle, beating, among others, a very young Michael Phelps. Later that year, he qualified for his first Olympic Games in Sydney. Four years later, in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, Parry won Britain's first Olympic swimming medal in eight years at the Athens Summer Olympics in 200-metres

, being beaten by

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

and Takashi Yamamoto. Phelps had beaten him into 4th place at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

four years earlier. Parry retired from competitive swimming in 2005. He represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the 200 metres butterfly event, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia. Four years later he won a silver and bronze medal in the butterfly and relay events at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. At the ASA National British Championships he won the 100 metres butterfly title in 1997 and was an eight-time winner of the 200 metres butterfly title in 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. After retiring, Parry joined up with former training partner Adrian Turner and Rebecca Adlington to establish Total Swimming, a swimming training program and facilities for young people. In June 2022, JD Sports announced they had purchased 60% of Total swimming group, after the group had made £8.6 million at the end of the 2021 fiscal year. JD purchased the stock with an initial cash consideration of £11.1 million with a maximum of £4 million. He briefly hosted his own Sunday afternoon programme on BBC Radio Merseyside before joining

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

as part of their team covering the swimming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Personal life

Parry was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

in 2009, days after marrying his wife Thea. The affected testicle was removed before the cancer spread, and in early 2012 he became a father. Parry was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to swimming.

Personal bests and records

References

British Swimming athlete profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Stephen 1977 births Living people English male freestyle swimmers British male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Olympic swimmers for Great Britain English male butterfly swimmers British male butterfly swimmers Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming Swimmers from Liverpool Olympic bronze medalists in swimming People educated at Liverpool Blue Coat School Florida State University alumni European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games English male backstroke swimmers British male backstroke swimmers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States British expatriate swimmers in the United States

Career

Personal life

Personal bests and records

See also

References