Sri Lanka born Olympic champion swimmer David Wilkie dies aged 70
British Olympic swimming champion David Wilkie has died at the age of 70.
The Scot won 200m breaststroke gold in Montreal in 1976, as well as two Olympic silver medals and three world titles.
His family released a statement saying: “It is with great sadness that the family of David Wilkie MBE announce that he died peacefully surrounded by his family this morning, following his brave battle with cancer.”
Born in Sri Lanka to Scottish parents, Wilkie won his first major medal with a bronze at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh
He collected Olympic silver in Munich in 1972 and won World Championship gold the following year.
Wilkie added three more Commonwealth medals for Scotland, including two golds, in 1974.
In 1975, he completed a 100m and 200m breaststroke double at world level and was voted British Sportsman of the Year by sports writers.
Wilkie’s crowning moment came with an extraordinary performance in Montreal, with his Olympic triumph taking more than three seconds off the world record time.
He also came second in the 100m event in Canada. Unbeaten over 200m for four years and the first British man to win Olympic gold in the pool in 68 years, he chose to retire one month after the Games at the age of 22.
Wilkie was made an MBE in 1977.
From Sri Lankan sun to Edinburgh chlorine
In 2020, Wilkie spoke in depth to BBC Scotland’s This Sporting Life podcast about his journey from his Colombo birthplace, through his arrival in Edinburgh aged 11, to his conquering of the swimming world at 22 and the fame that came with it.
He grew up in a big family home in the Sri Lankan sunshine, surrounded by nannies and maids, until his Scottish dad sent him to boarding school in Edinburgh.
At first, he hated it. The fun of swimming in Sri Lanka’s warm waters was replaced with cold, crowded and regimented pools with nylon ropes and the smell of chlorine.
“The years went by and my attitude changed, but it took time,” he said.
Indeed, by the time Wilkie left school, he had already won Commonwealth Games bronze, but it was also time to rebel and he grew his hair, developed sideburns and created a look that was unheard of in the staid world of swimming.
(BBC)
