47 Facts About Tom Shields

Thomas Allen Shields was born on July 11,1991 and is an American competitive swimmer.

Tom Shields is a two-time Olympian and the current American record-holder in the short course 50-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly.

At the Kazan stop of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, Tom Shields was the only swimmer representing the United States to compete, winning two gold medals and one silver medal in individual events.

Tom Shields was born in Panama City, Florida, while his father was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base.

For high school, Tom 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.

Tom Shields attended the University of California, Berkeley from 2010 to 2013, graduating with an undergraduate degree in religious studies in 2013.

At the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Tom 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.

Tom Shields was on the winning 4x100-yard medley relay, and the winning 4x100-yard freestyle relay.

Tom Shields helped his university team, the California Golden Bears, finish second to the Texas Longhorns in the championships.

At the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships, Tom 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.

Tom Shields was the first champion from the California Golden Bears in the 100-yard backstroke at an NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships.

Tom Shields's team won the championships, narrowly defeating the Texas Longhorns who won the championships the year before.

Tom Shields earned his first individual medal, a silver, in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing behind compatriot Tim Phillips.

Tom 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.

Tom Shields finished second to teammate Will Hamilton in the 200-yard butterfly with his time of 1:41.07.

Tom Shields anchored the 4x100-yard freestyle relay with a split of 41.79 seconds, and led-off the 4x200-yard freestyle relay.

At the 2012 US Olympic Team Trials, Tom Shields finished fourth place in the 100-meter butterfly behind Michael Phelps, Tyler McGill, and Ryan Lochte, with a time of 51.86.

Tom Shields placed ninth in the 200-meter butterfly semi-finals with a time of 1:58.75.

Tom Shields competed at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Tom Shields 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.

Tom Shields's time in the 50-meter butterfly was a new American record.

Tom Shields earned a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke in 45.21 seconds.

Tom Shields posted a personal best of 49.32 in the 100-meter butterfly at the same meet.

In 2016, Tom 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.

In December 2016 at the US Winter National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, Tom Shields became the first American to swim the 100-yard butterfly faster than 44 seconds.

Tom Shields's swim set a new American record and US Open record in the race with a time of 43.84.

Tom Shields became the fastest American swimmer in a textile swimsuit in the race, the previous fastest swim in a textile suit was earlier the same year by Caeleb Dressel who swam a time of 44.40.

Tom Shields achieving a spot on his second US Olympic Team was a monumental personal triumph as he worked through mental health issues such as attempting suicide to make it on the team.

Tom Shields was one of six California Golden Bears to make the 2020 US Olympic Team in swimming.

On day six of competition, in the prelims of the 100-meter butterfly, Tom Shields tied for 12th overall with a time of 51.57 and advanced to the semifinals.

Tom Shields decided to partake in the short course meters 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup starting at the first stop in Berlin, Germany where he was called a standout swimmer to watch in the 100-meter butterfly race by SwimSwam.

Tom Shields's swim moved him up in rankings to the fastest American and sixth fastest swimmer globally in the event up to that point in time.

Tom Shields achieved both of his gold medals on day three in a time span of approximately 15 minutes.

For stop three of four, held in Doha, Qatar, Tom Shields was noted as one of the highlight athletes from the United States contingent to watch at the World Cup stop by Swimming World.

Tom Shields kickstarted competition with the first race of the prelims heats on day one, the 100-meter butterfly, swimming a 52.44, ranking fourth overall and qualifying for the final.

Tom Shields finished in a time of 49.46 seconds in the evening final, placing first and winning the gold medal.

Tom Shields was the only swimmer representing the United States to enter to compete at the Kazan stop.

Tom Shields won the gold medal in the final, swimming a 49.20 to finish over eight tenths of a second ahead of the next fastest competitor.

Tom Shields concluded his competition for the World Cup winning the silver medal in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 22.19 seconds, which was a little over two tenths of a second slower than Szebasztian Szabo who won the gold medal in 21.97 seconds.

Tom Shields took second-place in terms of being the highest scoring male competitor for the entirety of the 2021 World Cup circuit, winning $103,500 of prize money and finishing less than three points behind the highest scoring male competitor, Matthew Sates of South Africa who scored 227 points.

Tom Shields took second for total number of medals won by a male competitor, winning fourteen total medals, ten of which were gold, three of which were silver, and one of which was bronze, and achieving the exact same medal count and distribution as Emma McKeon of Australia.

Tom Shields's winning fourteen total medals tied Maria Ugolkova of Switzerland winning sixteen total medals as the number eight moment of the 2021 Swimming World Cup as determined by FINA.

Team LA Current selected Tom Shields to compete for them in the 2021 International Swimming League.

Tom Shields was entered to swim the 4x100-meter medley relay later the same day with Ryan Murphy, Christopher Rothbauer, and Maxime Rooney.

The finals relay, on which Zach Apple substituted in for Tom Shields, finished third and all prelims and finals relay members earned a bronze medal for their contributions.

Tom Shields placed sixth in the final of the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 49.80 seconds.

Tom Shields followed up his relay performance with a time of 22.88 in the prelims heats of the 50-meter butterfly, which qualified him for the semifinals ranking fourteenth.