Ben Proud Swimmer

  • DOB

    21 Sep 1994
  • Coach

  • Club

    Bath University
  • Main event

    Sprint freestyle
  • Best result

    World Champion
  • Medals (INT/NAT)

    • 23
    • 11
    • 8
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Ben Proud became the first person ever to win World, European and Commonwealth swimming titles in the same year - doing it in the space of two months in 2022, before claiming further World Championship medals in 2023 and 2024.
Ben is one of a clutch of British swimmers preparing for their third Olympic Games after a sensational finals swim in the 50m Freestyle at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.

That followed on from him taking bronze at the Worlds in Doha in February - a repeat of the World Championship result from Fukuoka in 2023, both races featuring powerful starts and characteristically strong sprinting.

The unforgettable hat-trick of 50m Freestyle titles in 2022 were won in fine style by Proud, with the athlete also taking gold in the 50m Butterfly at the Commonwealth Games with Team England.

Ben’s preparations for the busy 2022 summer continued as he won gold in the 50m Butterfly at the 2022 British Swimming Championships. Preceding the clear win for the Bath swimmer was a silver in the 50m Freestyle, narrowly missing another British title.

The Tokyo Olympics for Ben was a story of slender margins, with a place on the podium in the 50m Freestyle eluding him by just over a tenth of a second as he powered to fifth in the blue-riband splash and dash. 

Tokyo 2020 was his second Olympic Games after a fourth-placed finish in the Men's 50m Freestyle at Rio 2016 - and he showed his intentions in that event by claiming silver at the 2021 European Championships, less than one tenth off the gold. 

Proud reached the finals in each of his three events at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, finishing fifth in the 50m Freestyle and Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay, and seventh in the 50m Butterfly as he looked to defend his crown from two years previous.

The Plymouth Leander swimmer came back from the disappointment of disqualification in the Men's 50m Butterfly at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games to defend his Commonwealth title in the 50m Freestyle, having set a new British record in the qualifying rounds. He also came away with two silver medals from the Men's 4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley Relays.

He claimed the first individual European gold of his career earlier in 2018 by triumphing in the 50m Freestyle, as well as upgrading a bronze in the 50m Butterfly from 2016 to a silver two years later. 

At the World Championships in Budapest in 2017, Proud clinched a stunning gold in the 50m Butterfly in a new British record time, making him the first British man to even feature on the World Championship podium in that event since 2001, when Mark Foster took bronze. He also claimed bronze in the 50m Freestyle, the first British man to claim a medal in that event for 14 years.

Proud's spot on the British team for those Worlds was secured after he lowered the British records in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly on his way to gold medals in both at the British Championships earlier in the year.  

The sprint swimmer made his Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016 in the 50m Freestyle, qualifying for the final and narrowly missing out on a medal by finishing fourth. 

Earlier that year, he secured 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly bronzes at the European Championships in London.

After taking two senior titles at the 2015 British Championships in those same events, Ben headed off to Kazan for his debut World Championship outing, where he made the finals for both events respectively.

In 2014, still only 19 years old, Proud won his first senior international medals, claiming the 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly double on his Commonwealth debut for England at Glasgow 2014, before adding 50m Butterfly bronze and Men's 4x100m Medley Relay gold for Great Britain at his maiden European Championships the following month.

Long Course
Event Year Time/Score Record
50m Freestyle 2018 21.11 BR
100m Freestyle 2016 48.52
50m Butterfly 2017 22.75 BR
100m Butterfly 2013 54.88
Short Course
Event Year Time/Score Record
50m Freestyle 2021 20.40 BR
100m Freestyle 2015 45.97 BR
50m Butterfly 2017 22.18 BR
100m Butterfly 2013 54.11
Olympic Games
Event Year Time/Score Result
50m Freestyle 2021 - Tokyo 21.72 5th
50m Freestyle 2016 - Rio 21.68 4th
100m Freestyle 2016 - Rio 49.14 29th
World Championships
Event Year Time/Score Result
50m Freestyle 2024 - Doha 21.53 Bronze
50m Freestyle 2023 - Fukuoka 21.58 Bronze
50m Butterfly 2023 - Fukuoka 22.91 5th
50m Freestyle 2022 - Budapest 21.32 Gold
50m Butterfly 2022 - Budapest 23.08 7th
50m Butterfly 2019 - Gwangju 23.01 7th
50m Freestyle 2019 - Gwangju 21.55 5th
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2019 - Gwangju 3:11.81 5th
50m Freestyle 2017 - Budapest 21.43 Bronze
50m Butterfly 2017 - Budapest 22.75 Gold
50m Freestyle 2015 - Kazan 22.04 8th
100m Freestyle 2015 - Kazan 49.35 23rd
50m Butterfly 2015 - Kazan 23.39 8th
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2015 - Kazan 3:15.70 10th
4x100m Medley Relay 2015 - Kazan 3:30.67 4th
50m Freestyle 2013 - Barcelona 22:31 18th
50m Butterfly 2013 - Barcelona 23.33 11th
European Championships
Event Year Time/Score Result
50m Freestyle 2022 - Rome 21.58 Gold
50m Freestyle 2021 - Budapest 21.69 Silver
50m Freestyle 2018 - Glasgow 21.34 Gold
50m Butterfly 2018 - Glasgow 22.78 Silver
50m Freestyle 2016 - London 21.73 Bronze
100m Freestyle 2016 - London 50.02 37th
50m Butterfly 2016 - London 23.34 Bronze
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2016 - London 3:17.13 7th
50m Freestyle 2014 - Berlin 21.94 4th
100m Freestyle 2014 - Berlin 49.33 14th
50m Butterfly 2014 - Berlin 23.21 Bronze
4x100m Medley Relay 2014 - Berlin 3:31.73 Gold
Commonwealth Games
Event Year Time/Score Result
50m Freestyle 2022 - Birmingham 21.36 Gold
50m Butterfly 2022 - Birmingham 22.81 Gold
50m Freestyle 2018 - Gold Coast 21.35 Gold
4x100m Freestyle 2018 - Gold Coast 3:15.25 Silver
4x100m Medley Relay 2018 - Gold Coast 3:31.13 Silver
50m Freestyle 2014 - Glasgow 21.92 Gold
100m Freestyle 2014 - Glasgow 50.06 9th
50m Butterfly 2014 - Glasgow 22.93 Gold
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2014 - Glasgow 3:16.37 Bronze
British Swimming Selection Trials
Event Year Time/Score Result
50m Freestyle 2021 - London 21.42 Gold
Aquatics GB Swimming Championships
Event Year Time/Score Result
50m Freestyle 2024 - London 21.25 Gold
50m Freestyle 2023 - Sheffield 21.71 Gold
50m Butterfly 2023 - Sheffield 23.37 Silver
50m Freestyle 2022 - Sheffield 21.91 Silver
50m Butterfly 2022 - Sheffield 23.09 Gold
50m Freestyle 2019 - Glasgow 21.50 Gold
50m Butterfly 2019 - Glasgow 23.25 Gold
50m Freestyle 2017 - Sheffield 21.32 Gold
100m Freestyle 2017 - Sheffield 50.50 13th
50m Butterfly 2017 - Sheffield 22.80 Gold
50m Freestyle 2016 - Glasgow 21.73 Gold
100m Freestyle 2016 - Glasgow 48.72 Silver
50m Freestyle 2015 - London 21.99 Gold
100m Freestyle 2015 - London 48.83 Silver
50m Butterfly 2015 - London 23.51 Gold
50m Freestyle 2014 - Glasgow 22.31 Silver
100m Freestyle 2014 - Glasgow 49.54 Silver
50m Butterfly 2014 - Glasgow 23.42 Gold
50m Freestyle 2013 - Sheffield 22.01 Silver
100m Freestyle 2013 - Sheffield 49.48 Bronze
50m Butterfly 2013 - Sheffield 23.10 Gold
50m Freestlye 2012 - London 23.42 27th