Aged 22, and still improving, it can only be imagined what Wilkie might have won over the next two or three Olympic cycles had he continued swimming competitively. Earning money from your sport, however, was forbidden even to the extent of documenting your story in an autobiography. Wilkie – described by one newspaper as “the coolest man in Britain” – promptly announced his retirement, becoming a familiar face over the next decade on the nation’s biggest television shows while also supporting numerous grass-roots swimming initiatives. He would later recall impressing some American friends during a stroll down the King’s Road in the late 1970s and being instantly greeted with his first name by the singer Elton John. “I wouldn’t say I was an out-and-out reprobate but, if the opportunity was there we had a good time,” Wilkie said.
His vast swimming influence would be felt in how Goodhew and Adrian Moorhouse then followed with Olympic breaststroke golds. Both cited Wilkie as their inspiration.
“People were always remarkably interested when they would meet him,” says Adam. “If someone asked, he would talk about his swimming but he was never boastful. He was very at ease with himself.”
Wilkie did briefly make swimming-related headlines again in 2017 after being ticked off by an over-zealous lifeguard at his local health club for supposedly going too quickly in the fast lane. His cancer came in 2021. “It’s so sad because, before the diagnosis, he was incredibly fit, incredibly young for a 67-year-old,” says Adam. “He fought it like an Olympic champion would and lived as full a life as I think anyone can.
“In the 70s and 80s, he was on TV, he was a public personality and then he became a family man, a businessman and lived a more private life. He just loved being at home with his family.”
