David Wilkie

1954 -

Swimmer. Although born in Sri Lanka, of Aberdonian parents, Wilkie was sent to board at Daniel Stewart's College in Edinburgh, where he became a member of the Warrender Baths Club. Regarded by many as a 'slacker', who avoided training, Wilkie won a surprise silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. However, displaying his enormous natural talent, together with the benefits of four years of training in an ideal environment while attending the University of Florida, he went on to confound his critics by winning a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. He won in a world-record time and went on to take a further silver medal in the 100m.

Wilkie was also successful in the Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in Edinburgh in the 200m breaststroke (1970). In the 1974 Games, held in Christchurch (New Zealand), he took a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke, a gold in the 200m breaststroke and a further gold in the 200m individual medley.

Today, Wilkie promotes technical swimming aids; he has always been a pioneer in this area since he became the first to wear a head-cap and goggles together, a combination which is now standard throughout the sport. He was among the first to be inducted as a member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

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