Ben Proud: World's fastest swimmer you probably haven't heard of

Ben Proud became the first person to ever win the world, European and Commonwealth swimming titles in the same 2022. Photo: Getty Images/Mine. Kasapoglu

He is the fastest swimmer in the world, but without logging into Twitter since thanking him for being named Devon & Cornish Sports Personality of the Year 2018. Ben Proud is almost the last person to scream about it.

However, some of his teammates clearly think otherwise, and that was the reaction of Duncan Scott, winner of four Olympic medals in Tokyo, to Praud's removal from last year's main shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

«Sorry @‌BenProud,» wrote Scott. “Maybe if you made it to the Open and won a Grand Slam and made it to the Champions League and became the reigning World, Commonwealth and European champions, you would give yourself a chance… insanity. What else does a guy need to do?!?!!”

It was Proud's annus mirabilis—a golden hat-trick in the 50m freestyle—but the waves that have swept across world swimming will remain largely contained.

Not that Proud cared much. He will defend his 50m world title in Japan on Saturday and, having almost retired last spring, now judges himself by performance far beyond his podium spot, not to mention wider recognition.

We'll talk on Zoom soon. before he arrives in Fukuoka, and as he holds up his iPad to share the view from his room at the Gloria Sports Arena near Antalya, Turkey, you begin to see how he could rekindle his love for this grueling sport.

“Just look,” he said as he panned the screen across the impressive sun-drenched complex, which includes a range of Olympic-sized indoor and outdoor pools, gyms, restaurants and an athletics stadium. It's certainly a far cry from the rainy, dark early winter mornings in Plymouth, where he spent most of his formative years, or in Bath, where he trained for the Tokyo Olympics.

«This is my happy place,» he says. Proud. “The weather is amazing, travel is no problem, food is no problem, the amenities are world class. Swimming outdoors is of great importance. It's all about motivating and pushing yourself.

“I have to make sure it's sustainable. For longevity, I needed a place where I could be happy. I know some people can do this, but going into the cold dark winter, jumping into the water at 6am, won't help in this situation. You see professional centers in other sports where everything is taken care of, like football, but you don't see that in swimming or athletics.

“When I'm here, you feel like you're in a world-class professional environment all day long. I have a great daily routine and am looking forward to jumping into the water. It makes it less of a chore and more important to the lifestyle.”

At 28, Proud suspects he only has two years left in a career that has already included 11 world, European and Commonwealth titles. Former breaststroke world champion James Gibson remains an influential life mentor, but he's essentially now also self-taught, and aside from Sundays, a typical day consists of two sessions in the pool separated by two hours in the gym.

“Increasingly, the coach is telling the swimmer what to do,” Proud says. «I am tired of this. I said, «If I'm going to keep swimming, the drive and motivation must come from me.» This meant that I just did what I wanted, and not because of any external pressure.”

Gord's other big change after finishing fifth at the Tokyo Games and feeling like he let people down in some way was how he felt about his sport and the importance of results. “Because of my last Olympic experience, I was very close to moving away from the water,” he says. “I still don't have Olympic drive and ambition, but I love swimming and my competitions. I had to go through a long shift. Looking at my pre-training, I realized that it was very toxic, I was very out of breath trying to get these performances. I was a stress-resistant athlete. It got to the point where it was too much.

“That's why last year was really great. I went from retirement conversations in March with all the UK swimming staff to five months later being champion in all three sports. I came out of a dark place.”

When Proud then reflects on the origins of this «high stress» view, it becomes clear that certain formative experiences had a huge impact. He was born in London but then his family moved to Malaysia before returning to Devon when he was 16 years old. they tend to have some kind of traumatic experience somewhere in their life that makes them want to run away,” he says. “It's a form of escapism. For me it was very important: «Swimming is my escape.» It was what I needed to do to move on and get over some things. It also has to do with my personality. It was all due to stress and anxiety. I wouldn't change a thing about it — it made me do a lot of what I did, but it went too far.»

Gordy doesn't go into detail about what this traumatic experience might be. , but he refers to «your relationship with some of the stories in your life» and says that «when I was growing up as a teenager … I found that swimming was a way to go through a stage where I was not very comfortable.» .

He emphasizes that overall it is a «good story» and that he feels grateful to have found swimming, and especially now the prospect that will allow him to approach the Paris Olympics as an opportunity, not as some kind of threat.

“There is no longer this attachment to swimming, this desire “I should be a swimmer,” he says. «It's more like 'take it and see how it ends'.» I have the opportunity to swim and do things that money can't buy.»