Joe Litchfield Swimmer

  • DOB

    8 Jul 1998
  • Coach

    Dave Hemmings
  • Club

    British Swimming Performance Centre, Loughborough
  • Main event

    Backstroke
  • Best result

    World Champion
  • Medals (INT/NAT)

    • 5
    • 4
    • 2
Joe Litchfield Headshot 2023

Joe Litchfield made his senior international and Olympic debuts for Britain in the same year in 2021, winning three golds and one silver at that year's European Championships. After a successful 2022, he will be looking to make his mark again this summer at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.

A first World Championships final saw a first World Championships medal for Litchfield in 2022, as he took bronze in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay in Budapest. Birmingham's Commonwealth Games with Team England then followed, with the athlete taking silver medals in both the 4x100m and 4x200m Freestyle Relays. 

A busy schedule at the 2022 British Swimming Championships for Joe saw a final in every event for the Loughborough Performance Centre swimmer. The Budapest-bound athlete competed in the 50m and 100m Backstroke, alongside the 100m and 200m Freestyle, finishing between fourth and seventh across the events.

Litchfield – coached by David Hemmings – was a part of the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team at the Tokyo Olympics that just missed out on a place in the final by less than a tenth of a second. Individually, he also competed in the 200m Individual Medley, finishing just outside of the semi-final places.

Loughborough National Centre athlete Litchfield - who came through the ranks at the City of Sheffield - secured no fewer than four medals during that European bow across a quartet of relays, including golds in the Mixed 4x200m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley, as well as the Men's 4x100m Medley. 

Earlier in the year, he earned a brilliant silver in the Men's 200m Individual Medley final at the British Swimming Selection Trials to dip under the Tokyo consideration time, a feat he repeated in the Men's 100m Backstroke to win gold at the subsequent Glasgow Meet. Those performances see him on the plane to this summer's Olympics. 

Back in 2018, Litchfield was part of Team England at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia, having stood on the podium at the World University Games the previous year. 

Long Course
Event Year Time/Score Record
100m Freestyle 2021 48.85
200m Freestyle 2023 1:46.88
100m Backstroke 2021 53.75
200m Individual Medley 2021 1:57.74
Olympic Games
Event Year Time/Score Result
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2021 - Tokyo 3:13.17 9th
200m Individual Medley 2021 - Tokyo 2:00.11 34th
World Championships
Event Year Time/Score Result
4x200m Freestyle Relay 2023 - Fukuoka 7:06.20 Gold
100m Backstroke 2022 - Budapest 55.52 26th
4x200m Freestyle Relay 2022 - Budapest 7:04.00 Bronze
European Championships
Event Year Time/Score Result
200m Individual Medley 2021 - Budapest 1:58.79 5th
100m Backstroke 2021 - Budapest 54.83 25th
4x100m Medley Relay 2021 - Budapest 3:32.48 Gold
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2021 - Budapest 3:14.29 Silver
Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay 2021 - Budapest 3:43.40 Gold
Mixed 4x200m Freestyle Relay 2021 - Budapest 7:34.64 Gold
Commonwealth Games
Event Year Time/Score Result
200m Freestyle 2022 - Birmingham 1:48.87 8th
50m Backstroke 2022 - Birmingham 25.44 9th
4x100m Freestyle Relay 2022 - Birmingham 3:16.93 Silver
4x200m Freestyle Relay 2022 - Birmingham 7:07.50 Silver
British Swimming Selection Trials
Event Year Time/Score Result
200m Individual Medley 2021 - London 1:57.74 Silver
100m Backstroke 2021 - London 54.04 Gold
200m Freestyle 2021 - London 1:47.48 7th
British Championships
Event Year Time/Score Result
100m Freestyle 2023 - Sheffield 49.16 8th
200m Freestyle 2023 - Sheffield 1:46.88 6th
100m Backstroke 2023 - Sheffield 55.44 5th
200m Individual Medley 2023 - Sheffield 2:00.25
50m Backstroke 2022 - Sheffield 25.51 5th
100m Backstroke 2022 - Sheffield 55.07 6th
100m Freestyle 2022 - Sheffield 49.40 7th
200m Freestyle 2022 - Sheffield 1:47.66 4th
200m Individual Medley 2019 - Glasgow 1:59.50 Bronze
100m Backstroke 2019 - Glasgow 54.71 Silver