Hector Pardoe Swimmer

Hector Pardoe's speedy rise to the top of British men's marathon swimming has seen him become a staple in the team at every major meet since his time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - a feat he continues as he lines up for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka this summer.

Pardoe's selection for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships comes off the back of a tenth placed-finish after the two-per-nation rule at the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in Sardinia earlier in the year, before achieving an impressive sixth place in Settubal the following week.

Pardoe enjoyed a mixed 2022 summer, with his first outing at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest seeing him take 11th place in the 10km event. This was then followed by an unfortunate DNF at the European Championships in Rome. 

With the World Championships in mind, Hector’s time at the 2022 British Swimming Championships was more about process than progress. The marathon swimmer finished in the top seven in all of the 400m, 800m, and 1500m Freestyle events in what was a good confidence builder for the transition back to open water, before he registered a 12^th-placed finish in the 10km event at LEN Open Water Cup in Piombino, Italy in May, before a further appearance at the Spanish National Open Water Championships to lead into Budapest, where he will compete in both the Men’s 10km and 25km events. 

Hector’s debut Team GB appearance at the Tokyo Olympics was hampered by an unfortunate injury in his sole event. An eye injury midway through the Men’s 10km race saw him have to withdraw from what was a solid swim up until that point.

Pardoe secured Team GB's qualification spot for the Games, and his selection in that spot, with an outstanding performance in June's FINA Olympic qualifier event in Setubal, Portugal, with the 20-year-old sprinting clear in the final stages of the 10km, two-hour-long race to claim victory.

Earlier in 2021, Pardoe - who trains in Montpellier - finished eighth with a strong swim at the European Championships in Budapest. He also finished seventh in the Doha leg of the FINA Marathon Swim World Series, the best result of his career at that level before the Olympic qualifying victory. A year earlier, he was 10th in the same Doha-based race.

In 2018, he competed over the shorter 5km distance at the European Championships in Glasgow, placing 23rd. It was a year later that he switched to focusing solely on marathon swimming.