James George GuyMBE (born 26 November 1995) is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in freestyle and butterfly. Guy has won multiple gold medals at each of the major international meets available to him, including for Great Britain at the Olympic Games (2), the World (5) and European Championships (7), and England in the Commonwealth Games (2). In addition to further medals in those events, he has also reached the podium at both the World and European short-course championships. With 45 major medals at international championship meets, 19 at global level, he is one of the most decorated swimmers in British history.
Guy came to international prominence when he won two World Championship gold medals in the 200-metre freestyle and 4×200-metre freestyle relay event at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, and silver in the 400 metre freestyle behind controversial Chinese swimmer Sun Yang. A prodigious relay swimmer, in 2016, he won silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley relay at the Rio Olympics, finishing 4th in the individual 200 metre freestyle event.[1] He helped defend the men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay world title in 2017, and swam the butterfly leg to help Great Britain to gold in the 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. Guy is a Commonwealth Games and seven-time European champion across various relay events. Guy competes in 4 x 100m freestyle, 4 x 200m freestyle, and on the butterfly legs of 4 x 100m medley relays.
Guy was born in Bury to Cath and Andrew Guy and has a younger brother whose name is Luke Guy.[2][3] Guy was educated at Forest Preparatory School, Timperley in Trafford, Greater Manchester.[4] When he was 13, he received a swimming scholarship to Millfield in Somerset.[5][6] He was a member of Trafford Metros swimming club before he moved to Somerset.[3]
Career
Guy won his first major medal at the 2012 European Junior Championships in Antwerp where he finished in the bronze medal position in the 400m freestyle.[7]
In his breakthrough season in 2013, he won three medals at the World Junior Championships in Dubai, landing silver over 200m and 400m Freestyle then anchoring the British quartet to 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay gold in a Championship record. He followed that up with double gold (200m Freestyle, 4 × 200 m Freestyle) at his second European Junior Championships in Poznan.
He made his senior international debut at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, lowering his British Age Group record (17 yrs) to finish fifth in the 400m Freestyle, then setting another British Age Group record (17 yrs) as the lead-off in the 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay as the British quartet finished seventh. James became the European and World Junior Champion in the 4x200 and holds the Word Junior Record in those Events.
2014–15: Emergence and World titles
He came to senior prominence in 2014, Guy laid down a signal of intent with a hat-trick of golds at the British Gas Swimming Championships, taking the touch in the 200m Free, 400m Free and 200m Fly, and breaking the British record in the 400m Free. He represented England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, winning two relay medals, lowering the British record again to claim 400m Freestyle bronze for England. Thereafter, representing Great Britain, he took silver medals in the 400-metre freestyle at the FINA World Championships in both the short course (25 metre) and long course formats. On 4 August 2015, he won the 200-metre freestyle at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, the first British swimmer to win the event in its history.
At the same event, Guy struck gold again in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Team GB was third at the last take over, when Guy took over. He swam his 200 in a 1:44.7, the quickest time across the pool and securing Great Britain the gold medal for the first time at the worlds in this event.[citation needed]
2018: Europeans, Commonwealth relay success and final 400m free
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held at the Gold Coast, Australia, Guy was part of the teams that won silver in the 4x200m freestyle, the 4x100m freestyle,[15][16] as well as in the 4x100m medley, finishing behind Australia in all three.[17] He also won a silver in the 100m butterfly,[18] and a bronze on 400m freestyle, after which he announced that he would no longer swim the 400 metre freestyle event in competition, focusing instead on the 100 metre butterfly.[19]
