Great Britain has been in the modern Olympics since its inception in 1896. So, simply by their continuous participation, they will likely have ‘the most of…xyz’ very often.

However, in the Olympics I’ve seen in my life, since 1976, when to begin with, watching Montreal Olympics, I saw male British swimmers winning breaststroke events more than any other country. It would seem like many modern breaststroke swimmers came from programmes out of Great Britain. They seem to be the golden breaststrokers of the world.

Way before Montreal in ‘76, Britain had limited success in a stroke that began its debut in 1904 as an Olympic event.

The first British winner was Fredrick Holman 1908 (200br gold in 100m pool) and then the first female gold; Lucy Morton 1924 200br gold.

A long break without any breaststroke success for British swimmers except one standout in 1960; Anita Lonsbrough won in 200br gold in Rome.

The 100m breaststroke was not introduced until 1968.

Then came the wave of British breaststroke swimmers. Between 1976 and 2024, thirteen Olympics, Britain won a gold in five of them, more than any country.

David Wilkie in 1976 won the 200br gold in Montreal. It was the only non-American men’s gold.

Duncan Goodhew won in 1980 100br in the controversial Moscow games.

Adrian Morehouse won in 1988 100br in Seoul by only a slim margin.

Adam Peaty began an unprecedented breaststroke dominance in 2016 in Rio. He won 100br gold and then five years later, in the delayed 2020 in Tokyo Olympics another 100br gold.

With dominant breaststroke swimming in Britain, a fully competitive contingent of breaststroke competitors surrounded these winners at home. In 1988 and 1992, Nick Gillingham won silver and bronze in the 200s (and fourth in 1996 behind a positive testing Russian) and then Michael Jamieson won silver in 2012. Peaty was a little past his prime in 2024 but still won silver in the 100.

A winning style invented in Britain, once known as the gentlemen’s stroke. In total, Great Britain won nine medals in breaststroke between 1976 and 2024. An additional breaststroke event has been added and maybe Great Britain can continue their wave.