Tom Shields
Thomas Allen Shields is an American competitive swimmer. He is a two-time Olympian and the current American record-holder in the short course 50-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in the prelims. Later the same year, he became the first American to swim faster than 44 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, setting a new American record of 43.84 seconds.
For the 2020 Summer Olympics, he swam the butterfly leg of the 4×100-meter medley relay in the prelims, winning a gold medal when the finals relay finished first. At the Kazan stop of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, Shields was the only swimmer representing the United States to compete, winning two gold medals and one silver medal in individual events. For the whole 2021 World Cup, Shields was the highest scoring American competitor and second-highest scoring male competitor.
Background
Shields was born in Panama City, Florida, while his father was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base. When he was two years old, his parents moved him and his older sister, Lindy, to Huntington Beach, California. Once in Orange County, he began swimming competitively when he was eight years old.For high school, Shields attended Edison High School where he swam on the Varsity Swim Team all four years, receiving multiple awards, breaking the National High School record in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:33.83, and ending his high school career with an induction into the Edison High School Hall of Fame in 2009. He attended the University of California, Berkeley from 2010 to 2013, where he swam under Head Coach Dave Durden and graduated with an undergraduate degree in religious studies in 2013.
2008–2015
At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Shields placed 45th in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:51.74, 54th in the 400-meter freestyle at 4:00.83, 72nd in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:04.78, and 89th in the 100-meter butterfly in 55.77 seconds.2010 NCAA Championships
At the 2010 NCAA Division I Championships, he won the 100-yard butterfly, placed second in the 200-yard butterfly, and was 16th in the 200-yard freestyle. Both of his butterfly efforts broke 17-18 National Age Group records setting new records of 44.91 in the 100-yard butterfly and 1:41.59 in the 200-yard butterfly. He was on the winning 4x100-yard medley relay, and the winning 4x100-yard freestyle relay. He helped his university team, the California Golden Bears, finish second to the Texas Longhorns in the championships. For his performances in the NCAA his freshman year, Shields won the "Freshman/Newcomer of the Year" award from the Pac-12 Conference.2011 NCAA Championships
At the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships, Shields won the 100-yard backstroke in 45.02 seconds, finished in second place in the 100-yard butterfly at 44.91 seconds, and placed third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:41.20. He was the first champion from the California Golden Bears in the 100-yard backstroke at an NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. He anchored the second place 4×50-yard freestyle relay, the winning 4×100-yard freestyle relay, and the second place in 4×200-yard freestyle relay. For the medley relays, Shields swam the butterfly leg of each relay. His team won the championships, narrowly defeating the Texas Longhorns who won the championships the year before.2011 Summer Universiade
At the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, Shields earned the first international medal of his career, a gold, in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay for his contribution in the heats. Shields earned his first individual medal, a silver, in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing behind compatriot Tim Phillips. Shields also earned a silver medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay for his contribution in the heats.2012 NCAA Championships
Shields finished first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 44.76 and first in the 100-yard backstroke in 44.86 seconds at the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. He finished second to teammate Will Hamilton in the 200-yard butterfly with his time of 1:41.07. He also anchored the 4x100-yard freestyle relay with a split of 41.79 seconds, and led-off the 4x200-yard freestyle relay. He swam the butterfly leg in both the 4x50-yard medley relay, splitting 19.80, and the first-place finishing 4x100-yard medley relay, splitting a 43.56. His team, the University of California, Berkeley, California Golden Bears repeated as champions, and he received the "Swimmer of the Meet" award from the NCAA and the "Swimmer of the Year" award from the Pac-12 Conference.2012 US Olympic Trials
At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Shields finished fourth place in the 100-meter butterfly behind Michael Phelps, Tyler McGill, and Ryan Lochte, with a time of 51.86. He placed ninth in the 200-meter butterfly semi-finals with a time of 1:58.75. Additionally, he competed in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing twenty-first in the heats at 49.96 seconds.2012 World Short Course Championships
Shields competed at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. He placed second in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 49.54, finishing 0.72 seconds behind gold medalist Chad le Clos of South Africa, and third in the 50-meter butterfly in 22.46 seconds, which was 0.24 seconds slower than gold medalist Nicholas Santos of Brazil and 0.20 seconds slower than silver medalist Chad le Clos. Shields's time in the 50-meter butterfly was a new American record. Additionally, the relay team of Matt Grevers, Kevin Cordes, Shields, and Ryan Lochte swam to a gold medal finish in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Shields splitting a 48.66 for the butterfly leg of the relay in the final.2013 NCAA Championships
Concluding his collegiate career in 2013, Shields achieved two first-place finishes at the 2013 NCAA Division I Championships, one in the 100-yard butterfly with his time of 44.59 and the other in the 200-yard butterfly where he won with a time of 1:39.65. He also earned a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke in 45.21 seconds. Shields's time in the 200-yard butterfly tied Michael Phelps's time for the fastest short course yards time by an American swimmer in history, tying the American record in the event. His team, California Golden Bears, finished second in the year's championships to the University of Michigan.2013 Swimming World Cup and Duel in the Pool
After not qualifying for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships, Shields swam a new American record time in the short course 200-meter butterfly at the 2013 World Cup stop in Eindhoven with a time of 1:51.38, which broke the record set in 2011 by Davis Tarwater at 1:51.90. He also posted a personal best of 49.32 in the 100-meter butterfly at the same meet. A few days later at the World Cup stop in Berlin, Shields lowered his own American record in the 200-meter butterfly to 1:51.31 and broke the American record set by Ian Crocker in the 100-meter butterfly in 2004 at 49.07 seconds with his time of 49.01 seconds. A few months later, at the World Cup stop in Doha, Qatar, Shields set a new American record in the short course 100-meter butterfly, becoming the first American swimmer to break 49 seconds in the event by lowering the American record of 49.01 to 48.80 seconds. Bringing 2013 to a close, Shields broke his American record of 1:51.31 in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:50.61 at the 2013 Duel in the Pool in Glasgow, Scotland.2014–2015
In the two years that followed, Shields found a groove with the short course 200-meter butterfly race and went on to break his American twice more, first lowering the American record to a 1:50.08 at the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Doha, Qatar. Then becoming the first male American swimmer to break 1:50.00 in the event when he dropped over a second from his previous best time to break his own record and set a new American record and US Open record of 1:49.05 in the event at the 2015 Duel in the Pool in Indianapolis. The prior day of competition, he set a new American record and US Open record in the short course 100-meter butterfly with a time of 48.63 seconds that bettered the American record set by himself in 2013 at 48.80 seconds. On December 11, 2015, he also set a US Open record in the short course 50-meter butterfly with a time of 22.56 seconds swum en route to his final time of 48.63 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly, that is, his first 50 meters of the 100-meter butterfly set the new US Open record in the 50-meter butterfly.2016–2022
2016 Summer Olympics
In 2016, Shields placed second in the 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly at the US Olympic Swimming Trials, qualifying for the 2016 US Olympic Swim Team. As the 2016 Olympic Games were Shields's first Olympic Games, this made him 25 years old at his Olympic debut.At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Shields won a gold medal for his efforts as part of the 4×100-meter medley relay. Specifically, he swam the butterfly leg of the relay in the prelims of the event. In the prelims heats of the 200-meter butterfly, Shields placed 20th with a time of 1:56.93. For the 100-meter butterfly, Shields placed seventh in the final with a time of 51.73 seconds, which was 1.34 seconds behind gold medalist Joseph Schooling of Singapore and 0.59 seconds slower than silver medalists Michael Phelps of the United States, Chad le Clos of South Africa, and László Cseh of Hungary.