WILBY James

General
MISSING OUT ON RIO
After narrowly missing out on selection for the world championships in 2015, he targeted a place on the Great Britain team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. However, in January 2016 he was diagnosed with glandular fever. "I could only stay awake for a few hours and barely manage a bowl of cereal." He was back in the pool in April 2016, but a month later he began suffering from severe tonsillitis, and he ultimately missed the 2016 Games. "My throat was beginning to really swell down one side and doctors sent me straight to hospital because they were worried I may soon struggle to breathe. I didn't let what happened drag me down completely though, and although it was a roller coaster I never thought, 'That's it'." (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)

FRIENDLY RIVALRY
He says he has a friendly but competitive relationship with fellow British swimmer Adam Peaty. He won silver behind Peaty in the 100m breaststroke at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. "We chat and we get along. It's really good to have that good bit of competition. Sometimes we'll have a bit of a race-off but it's really good spirited because we're both competitive and push each other along. We know there's no point getting too heated. I think every athlete in the end can be beaten at some point. The classic one that I think of is Michael Phelps. I think it was Rio [the 2016 Olympic Games] and the three of those absolute legends kind of ended up getting joint silver and Joe Schooling got the gold [in the 100m butterfly]. That's the classic one whenever people say so and so in this event is untouchable. I always kind of reflect on that one and be like, you know, it's possible for everyone to be beaten. It takes a perfect race, but you know it's always just in the name of good competition and good sports." (Twitter profile, 04 Dec 2019; bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019; swimmingworldmagazine.com, 13 Apr 2021; SportsDeskOnline, 05 May 2021)

TEAM PLAYER
He swam in the men's 4x100m medley relay heats at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, but was not part of the British team that went on to win gold in the final. During the medal ceremony he was captured by television cameras wearing a t-shirt on which he wrote 'Mum, I swam the heat!' with a black marker pen. "It's a strange one swimming in the heat but not in the final, so the way I try and wrap my head around it is that I'm doing a job, which is helping the team progress to the final by swimming my best. That then enables others to have that extra gear to step up in the final, and say Adam [Peaty] to be able to rest during the heats and focus on the final. It's easy when you look at it as a team sport and I'm very proud of being able to get a team onto that podium." (bbc.com, 03 Dec 2019)