David Wilkie, Olympic champion and swimming pioneer who first used hat and goggles, dies aged 70
David Wilkie, the pioneering Olympic gold medallist who popularised the use of caps and goggles in elite swimming, has died at the age of 70.
One of Britain’s greatest ever swimmers, Wilkie followed up World, European and Commonwealth titles over the previous three years with a stunning triumph in the Olympic 200 metres breaststroke in 1976.
That victory was notable not just for Wilkie becoming the first British Olympic swimming champion since 1960 but in how he had recognised the potential benefits of competing in a swimming cap. Wilkie’s world record that day, which obliterated the previous mark by more than three seconds, would stand for five years.
At the age of just 22, Wilkie retired at the absolute peak of his powers in 1976 and went on to become a successful businessman, co-founding both the healthcare company Health Perception – which he subsequently sold for £7.8million – as well as Pet’s Kitchen in 2009.
The Wilkie family announced his death on Wednesday morning. “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,” said a statement. Tributes soon poured in.
Sharron Davies, who won Olympic silver in 1980, said that Wilkie had been an inspiration. “I am so sad to hear of the loss of Olympic champion superstar breaststroker, my first crush and definitely an inspiration…sleep tight old friend,” she wrote.
Chris Pattinson, another former international swimmer, wrote: “You were an amazing swimmer and a real nice guy and I will never forget you.”
Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1954 to Scottish parents, Wilkie won his first major medal with a bronze at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh before taking Olympic silver at the 1972 Games in Munich aged just 18.
The first of three World Championship golds followed in 1973 in Belgrade before winning both the 100m and 200m breaststroke titles in Cali in 1975.
He finished third that year in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year poll, a position he repeated again in 1976 after his Olympic triumph. Wilkie also won Olympic silver over 100m in 1976 and was a double European champion.
Reminiscing about his career ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, Wilkie said of his Olympic gold: “I trained so, so hard - and it was a joy to win it. I was amazed at the response.” He was still swimming daily in 2017, when he made national headlines for being cautioned for going too fast at his local health club. Wilkie was awarded an MBE in 1977 and is survived by his wife, Helen, and children, Natasha and Adam.
