Nicholas Gillingham (born 22 January 1967 in Walsall

Walsall

Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...

) is a former swimmer from Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, who participated in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. In August 1989, he tied the existing world record

World record progression 200 metres breaststroke

The first world record in the men's 200 metres breaststroke in long course swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation in 1908 and the first world record in the women's 200 metres breaststroke was recognised in 1921...

 in the long-course 200 m breaststroke, only to co-hold it for 1-day before the other co-holder, Mike Barrowman

Mike Barrowman

Michael Ray Barrowman is an American former swimmer, one of the pioneers of the "Wave-Style" Breaststroke technique. Prior to attending University of Michigan, he trained with Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club and Curl-Burke Swim Club in Maryland.He placed 4th in the 1988 Summer Olympics in the...

 (USA), lowered the record again. At the 1988 Olympics

Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics took place in Seoul, South Korea. The swimming competition, held from September 18 to September 25, was notable for the seven medals, including five golds, won by Matt Biondi, the six golds won by Kristin Otto, and the three individual golds won by Janet Evans...

 he won the silver medal in the 200 metres breaststroke, followed by a bronze one in the same event, four years later in Barcelona

Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics

At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, 31 swimming events were contested. There was a total of 641 participants from 92 countries competing.-Medal table:-Men's events:* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals....

.

Gillingham, who was trained by Tim Jones, also won the world title at the first inaugural 1993 FINA Short Course World Championships

1993 FINA Short Course World Championships

The 1st FINA Short Course World Championships were held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain from December 2 until December 5, 1993. PR China won the most gold medals, although all of their ten came in the women's events, with Le Jingyi winning two individual and three relay events to travel home with five...

 in Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...

. He broke three world, ten European, nine Commonwealth and seventeen British records during his career and won 17 major championships.

Gillingham was awarded the MBE in 1993 for ‘services to swimming’ and retired from full-time competitive sport in 1996. After retiring, he established a sports communications business focusing on sports marketing, development & events.

Recently, Gillingham took part in a scheme called Young Ambassadors, promoting youth sport development in the North East of England at Loughborough.