Finlay Knox (born January 8, 2001) is a Canadian competitive swimmer.[2][3]

Finlay Knox
Personal information
National teamCanada
Born (2001-01-08) January 8, 2001 (age 23)
Leeds, England[1]
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesIndividual medley
ClubHigh Performance Centre – Vancouver
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Canada
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2024 Doha 200 m medley
World Championships (SC)
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Melbourne 100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Melbourne 200 m medley
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m freestyle
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago 200 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m mixed freestyle
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Budapest 200 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Budapest 4×100 m medley
Youth Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Buenos Aires 200 m medley

Career

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Knox was born in England, and his family moved to New Zealand when he was two years old. Knox's family emigrated to Canada when he was seven.[1]

2018–2021

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Knox was named to his first Canadian national team at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At this event, Knox won bronze in the 200 m individual medley[4] The following year, Knox won two medals at the 2019 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest.[5]

As part of the 2021 Canadian Olympic swimming trials in Toronto, Knox broke the national record in the 200 individual medley event, with a time of 1:58.07. This qualified him for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[6][7][8][9] Knox placed seventeenth in the heats of the men's 200 m individual medley, 0.14 seconds behind Japan's Daiya Seto, and thus missed qualifying to the semi-finals.[10]

2022–present

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Knox was part of Canada's team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he won a bronze with the men's team in the 4×100 m freestyle. He was the only member of the team to swim in both the heats and the final. This was the first men's relay medal for Canada at a major event since the 2015 Pan American Games, and the first at the Commonwealth Games since 2006.[11] Knox also reached the finals of the 100 m butterfly and the 200 m medley, placing fourth in the latter.[12]

Later that same year, Knox participated in the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships in Melbourne. He won a bronze medal in the 200 m individual medley, his first individual medal at a major senior championship. He said afterward that a series of disappointments at recent championships had "lit a fire in my stomach and coming into this worlds I just didn’t want to let that happen again."[13] He went on to claim a second bronze medal in the 100 m individual medley, joining fellow Canadian Javier Acevedo on the podium.[14]

At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Knox was added to the Canadian 4×100 m freestyle relay team for the first time. The team ultimately finished fifth.[15] He also participated in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, where the Canadian team set its fastest time since 2009, but did not qualify to the final.[16] Subsequently, Knox was part of the Canadian delegation to the 2023 Pan American Games, where he won four bronze medals in relay events and took the gold in the 200 m individual medley.[17]

While many of Canada's top swimmers opted to skip the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Knox was named to the team.[18] Competing in the 200 m individual medley, Knox reached the final. Third through the first three segments, he surged into first place in the closing freestyle section, winning the World title. He became the first Canadian man to win a World Aquatics gold medal since Brent Hayden in 2007.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Finlay Knox". olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  2. ^ "Finlay Knox". swimming.ca/. Swimming Canada. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "Swimming – Finlay Knox". the-sports.org/. Info Média Conseil. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  4. ^ "Promising junior, youth teams named after successful Canadian Championships". swimming.ca/. Swimming Canada. April 9, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  5. ^ "Kristina Walker". olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. June 15, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  6. ^ Greer, Remy (June 22, 2021). "Record swim qualifies Okotokian for Olympics". Airdrie Today. Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "26 athletes nominated to Canada's Olympic swimming team". cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  8. ^ "Canada's Tokyo 2020 Swimming Team Announced". swimming.ca/. Swimming Canada. June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  9. ^ Nichols, Paula (June 24, 2021). "Team Canada to have 26 swimmers at Tokyo 2020". olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  10. ^ O'Nyons, Harrison (July 28, 2021). "Locals Gather to Watch Okotokian at Tokyo Olympics". highriveronline.com. High River Online. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  11. ^ "Maggie Mac Neil and Nicolas-Guy Turbide win thrilling races on four-medal night". Swimming Canada. July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  12. ^ "Two gold medals cement strong finish at Commonwealth Games". Swimming Canada. August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  13. ^ "Knox earns first individual medal on two-podium night for Canada". Swimming Canada. December 13, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  14. ^ "Knox earns first individual medal on two-podium night for Canada". Swimming Canada. December 16, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  15. ^ "Canada hits Worlds pool with two Top 5 performances". Swimming Canada. July 23, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  16. ^ "Liendo and Masse charge into weekend finals". Swimming Canada. July 28, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  17. ^ "Mac Neil, Harvey make history, Knox, Pickrem golden as Canada wraps Pan Ams". Swimming Canada. October 25, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  18. ^ "Katerine Savard to lead Canadian swim team devoid of Olympic stars into aquatics worlds". CBC Sports. November 7, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  19. ^ Sutherland, James (February 15, 2024). "Finlay Knox cracks Canadian record to win upset World title". SwimSwam. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  20. ^ "Canada's Finlay Knox pulls off comeback for 1st career gold medal at swimming worlds". CBC Sports. February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
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