Gary Binfield
Gary Binfield; an appreciation by his coach and GB team colleague
Gary Michael Binfield, who died suddenly on March 15 aged 42, was one of the most talented and versatile athletes to represent Great Britain and England in any sport. During one season as a sixteen-year old he donned the red rose of the England Esso Squad for every event at international level; 50m through 1,500m freestyle, 100m and 200m backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley and all relays. At the 1983 National Age Group Championships held at the Derby Baths, Blackpool he won six individual events with the meet becoming known in later years as ‘the Gary Binfield Nationals.’ He represented Great Britain at European Championships and Olympic Games and swam for England at both the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games where he won a silver medal as part of the 4 x 100m medley relay.
Although his swimming prowess is memorable it is the memory of the man, the friend which is uppermost in our minds as we contemplate a world without this outstanding human being. Gary’s demeanour was gentle, genuine, thoughtful and true. He had a positive impact on everyone he met. No one who knew him can fail to be devastated by his passing.
Gary started his swimming in his home town of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire and then with the Maxwell Swim Club coached by Mick Wakeley. His career blossomed with the forming of the City of Milton Keynes swim club, an amalgamation of five local clubs under professional coaching. His Oxford & North Buckinghamshire record for 200m backstroke, set at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in January 1990, was broken only one week before he died. He followed his coach, Clive Rushton, from Milton Keynes to Salford Triple S swim club where he set six British and English open records on both backstroke and individual medley. In 1985 Gary took up a scholarship at the University of Southern Carolina gaining a bachelor’s degree in hotel management and becoming a key member of their successful “Gamecocks” swim team, winning All-American honours 15 times in eight different events during his four years. In the later years of his competitive career he returned to swim with Mick Wakeley at Maxwell.
Gary was dealt a cruel blow at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea when he was overlooked for the final of the medley relay after setting a time in the heats faster than the other British backstroke swimmers on the team. The medley relay was subsequently disqualified in the final.
His coach at Milton Keynes and Salford, Clive Rushton, said, “Coaching Gary helped me become a good coach; it made me look like a great one. I remember a very likable, dedicated, hard-working, popular young man. He once had to repeat a set of 10 x 200’s butterfly because he broke stroke on the first 200. Years later, after gaining selection for the Olympic team he told me, ‘That was the best decision you ever made; I never broke stroke again.’” Would that every swimmer had that discipline and strength of purpose.
Following University graduation Gary became assistant coach at the University of Georgia. Long-time UGA coach Harvey Humphries said, “As a swimmer for the South Carolina Gamecocks Gary Binfield was one of the most fierce competitors that I can remember facing as a Georgia coach over the past 25 years. Later when we hired Gary as an assistant coach, he channeled all of his intensity he had as an athlete into giving everything he had for our athletes and the team. His work ethic and attitude was an inspiration for everyone in the UGA Swimming and Diving program to give their best efforts at all times.”
In 1996 Gary took the Head Men’s Coaching position at Ivy League Brown University, Rhode Island. Gary’s style is captured by Matt Kredich, the Women’s coach at Brown at the time who says, ‘Within minutes of meeting Gary you felt like you’d known him for years. He ran a marathon without training for it. At all. And he went fast. He didn’t guess, he KNEW how to train people to become faster, more skilled, tougher. The pathway to excellence was clear to Gary. He didn’t waste any time wandering around on side paths. He was a brilliantly skilled coach and teacher.’
After a short time at Brown, Gary moved into the corporate world with the Pool Management Group based in Georgia, USA. At the time of his death he had just been promoted to the post of President having held the post of Vice President for a number of years.
To his business colleagues, his capacity to get the best out of people mirrored his ability as a coach. He was very professional and committed to his work, always giving of his time, always striving to better the business. Throughout all of this, his dealings with his colleagues were always personable and Gary was very much liked by all who came into contact with him. UGA Coach Humphries again; ”Finally, when Gary moved on to his next career in the business world he carried his persistence and dedication on to not just having a successful career, but more importantly, he gave everything he had to his wife Annika and their two children, Hayden and Emmie, as a loving father and husband. I will think of him often and miss him dearly.” Gary retained a close affection for the University of Georgia throughout the rest of his life, maintaining a keen interest in the results of the Swim Team and regularly attending football games to support the ‘Bulldogs’.
In recent years, Gary also invested in a beachside property on Fripp Island, South Carolina, a place which became his family’s sanctuary away from the bustle of business. After discovering this ‘paradise’ on his honeymoon, he travelled there regularly whether it was simply to relax for a couple of days or more often to entertain family and friends.
He was a proud and dedicated father to his two young children, who ensured that his family enjoyed life to the full.
Gary is survived by wife Annika, son Hayden, daughter Emmie, mother Jean, father Allan, brother Steven and sisters Deborah & Sharon.
Two funds have been established in Gary’s name and details are available by emailing communications@swimming.org
Clive Rushton Tim Jones
1988 GBR Olympic Coach 1988 GBR Olympic Team
