Joseph Peter "Joe" Roebuck (born 5 June 1985 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England)[1] is an English swimmer.
, Roebuck is tall and weighs .[1] He is coached by Ian Armiger at Loughborough University, where he also studies Sports Science.[1] [2]
At the 2005 British Swimming Championships Roebuck won a silver medal in both the 200 and 400 metres individual medleys; in 2006 he took gold in both of the medley events and also won gold in the 200 metres butterfly.[3] In 2007 he retained his butterfly and 400 metres medley titles but took silver in the 200 metres medley.[3] In the 2008 Championships Roebuck won a bronze medal in the 400 metres medley and silver in the 200 metres butterfly.[3]
Roebuck missed out on qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, when he missed the required qualifying time by a quarter of a second at the Olympic Trials.[2] [4]
In 2009, he finished 4th in the men's 400 m individual medley at the European Short Course Championship, setting a new British record despite tearing his swimsuit.[5]
In 2010 Roebuck won a bronze medal in the 200 metres individual relay at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary; defending champion László Cseh won gold and Markus Rogan the silver.[6] Later in the year he represented England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi, India. Competing in the 400 metres individual medley he won a silver medal behind South Africa's Chad le Clos.[7] Roebuck won his second silver medal of the Games in the 200 metres individual medley; he finished in a time of one minute 59.86 seconds as compatriot James Goddard won the race in one minute 58.10 seconds.[8]
At the 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Roebuck won the bronze medal in the 200 metres butterfly.[9]
At the 2012 British Championships Roebuck won the silver medal, behind fellow Loughborough University student Roberto Pavoni in the 400 metres individual medley.[10] This meant he qualified to take part in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[10] He went on to win gold medals in the 200 metres butterfly and 200 metres individual medley, earning himself Olympic qualification for both events.[11]
In June 2012 Roebuck was confirmed as part of a 44-swimmer squad for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics; he competed in the 200 metres butterfly, 200 metres individual medley and the 400 metres individual medley.[12] His best result was reaching the semi-final in the men's 200 m individual medley.[13]
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he competed in the 100 and 200 m butterfly and the 200 m individual medley.