Elijah Winnington

Elijah Winnington

File:SPO-Elijah Winnington-CAV 1732.jpg Elijah Winnington on the Gold Coast, Australia
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Lij, Lijo
National team	Australia
Born	(2000-05-05) 5 May 2000 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	St Peters Western
Coach	Dean Boxall
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 0 1 World Championships (LC) 1 1 0 Pan Pacific Championships 0 0 0 Commonwealth Games 4 0 1 Junior World Championships (LC) 0 0 3 Total 5 1 5 Men's swimming Representing Australia Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 2022 Budapest 400 m freestyle 2022 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast 4×200 m freestyle 2022 Birmingham 400 m freestyle 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m freestyle 2022 Birmingham 4×200 m freestyle 2022 Birmingham 200 m freestyle World Junior Championships 2017 Indianapolis 200 m freestyle 2017 Indianapolis 4×100 m freestyle 2017 Indianapolis 4×100 m medley Junior Pan Pacific Championships 2016 Maui 4×200 m freestyle 2016 Maui 4×100 m freestyle

Elijah Winnington (born 5 May 2000) is an Australian competitive swimmer who specialises in the sprint freestyle events. He has competed in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, 2020 Summer Olympics, and 2022 World Aquatics Championships. Winnington is the current 400m freestyle world champion.

Background

Winnington was born in Gold Coast, Queensland. He went to King's Christian College, graduating in 2017. Winnington eventually swam under Richard Spence at Bond Swimming Club for a couple of years until changing to St Peter's Western under Dean Boxall.

Career

Winnington won three bronze medals at the 2017 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in the 200 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m medley relays. Winnington's breakthrough would come at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he won gold in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay alongside Kyle Chalmers, Alexander Graham and Mack Horton. The relay team's time of 7:05.97 was a games record.

In 2019, Winnington would compete at the 2019 Australian Swimming Championships, winning gold in the 400 m freestyle event and silver in the 200 m freestyle event. Two years later, at the 2021 Australian Swimming Championships, Winnington would retain his title in the 400 m freestyle event and won bronze in the 200 m freestyle event.

2020 Summer Olympics

At the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials, Winnington competed in the 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m freestyle events. He qualified for the Olympic team in the 200 m and 400 m events, coming first in the 400 m event and second in the 200 m. Although Winnington qualified with the fastest time in the world for the 400m freestyle, he failed to claim a medal in the final.

2022 World Aquatics Championships

Winnington won his first international gold medal in the 400m freestyle during the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He swam a personal best time of 3:41.22 in the final, which was the 5th fastest time in the history of the men's 400m freestyle (long course). Winnington also won bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay.