Son of legendary Edinburgh swimmer David Wilkie retraces his late dad's footsteps during 'world record' charity challenge

The son of legendary Edinburgh swimmer David Wilkie is retracing his father’s footsteps as he attempts to match his 200m breaststroke world record time for charity.

Adam Wilkie, 33, has been taking on the ‘In My Father’s Lane – Chasing 2:15’ challenge for the past six months and has now arrived in Edinburgh to visit some of the places that were key to his late dad’s glittering swimming career.

He made a visit to the Royal Commonwealth Pool on Tuesday, October 27, the very location that David won his first ever international medal during the 1970 Commonwealth Games when he was just 16 years old.

Adam Wilkie, son of legendary swimmer David Wilkie MBE, poses beside a plaque at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh. | Iconic Media

Adam said: “To be in this building is fascinating for me because this is where my dad as a kid would have come and trained when he was at school, he would have been here with his team, Warrender, and they would have been going up and down this very pool.

“The bronze medal really kind of kick-started his swimming career and gave him the belief that he should actually pursue it properly.”

David Wilkie is still the only Scottish person to win an individual Olympic gold medal in the pool after his win in Montreal in 1976. | Getty Images

David‘s career started at the Warrender Baths Club, which he joined while he was a student at Erskine Stewart Melville, known at the time as Daniel Stewart’s College.

He went on to become one of Britain’s most successful swimmers and broke the world-record for the 200m breaststroke during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, claiming gold with a time of 2:15.11.

David, who died from cancer at the age of 70 in 2024, still holds the honour of being the only Scot to win an individual gold medal in the pool and was first British man to win an Olympic swimming gold medal in 68 years.

Now, exactly 50 years on from David’s incredible moment in Montreal, Adam is attempting to match his dad’s time of 2:15 as he raises money for sporting charity SportsAid.

Despite hanging up his goggles at 17, Adam has returned to the water to honour his late dad and raise money for SportsAid. | Wilkie Family

Adam said: “He has that legacy in sport, so how do you, as his son, honour that and pay homage to the man that was also your father? I had to come up with something that felt kind of quite big.

“When I was very young, I was scared of water so you can imagine this picture of this great Olympic champion and his son won't even go in the deep end, it was very funny. As I grew up, I started to swim but there was a lot of pressure and I did it through loyalty to the sport not through my love for it, so I hung up my goggles around 17.

“But I've felt fallen back in love with the sport because when he passed away it felt natural to go swimming to feel close to him. The water's also a very healing, cathartic place to be at one with your thoughts.”

He added: “He didn't need me to continue his legacy, he's written his name in the history books, but I wanted it to live on and I wanted to bring it to a new generation.”

SportsAid provides financial assistance to young athletes, with a personal connection to the Wilkie family as David was the first person to be awarded a grant from the charity. Adam is aiming to raise £215,000.

Adam is training to match his dad's then-world recording breaking time for 200m breaststroke time of 2:15. | Wilkie Family/Provided

Adam, who has taken a year-long career break to take on the challenge, said: “If we can even change or help one or two young kids on their journeys that would be amazing. I think the brilliant thing about Sports Aid is that they're supporting kids that are really showing aptitude in sport and maybe need that financial aid to go on and to do something brilliant.”

Training is still in progress for the next six months for Adam, who will be making the attempt to match his dad’s time during the British Championships in April. He is already just 20 seconds off of his dad’s time, with training sessions being lead by coach Lisa Bates, who has trained the likes of Adam Ramsey Peaty.

Adam said: “It’s been hard. 2:15 is still a very quick time. It would’ve made the finals of the British Championship for the last few years, which just goes to show how damn good my dad was, even 50 years later.

“If I get close to the time it's brilliant and I've had a wonderful time. If I don't get anywhere near the time, I think it's actually a win-win because I also get to show how good my dad was.”

To donate and find out more about about Adam’s challenge, you can visit the In My Father’s Lane website.