Timmers qualified for three swimming events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 48.92 (100 m freestyle) from the Belgian Championships in Antwerp, just a 0.10-second deficit from an A-cut and a Belgian record held by Yoris Grandjean.[4][5] He also teamed up with Dieter Dekoninck, Emmanuel Vanluchene, and Jasper Aerents in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the anchor leg, Timmers recorded a fastest split of 48.18, but the Belgian team rounded out the finale to last place in 3:14.40.[6][7]
On the fourth day of the Games, Timmers competed in two events with 90 minutes in between. In the 100 m freestyle, he won the seventh heat, which included two-time Olympic champion Yannick Agnel of France. Swimming in lane eight, he blasted a new Belgian record of 48.54 to pick up a matching sixth seed with Cayman Islands' Brett Fraser from the preliminary heats.[8][9] Followed by the evening session, Timmers fell short in his bid for the final, as he matched a twelfth-place finish with Australia's James Roberts in his semifinal run, outside a record time of 48.57.[10] Timmers placed twelfth as a member of the Belgian team in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. Teaming with Dekoninck, Louis Croenen, and Glenn Surgeloose, Timmers anchored the race with a split of 1:48.28 to set a Belgian record of 7:14.44 in the heats.[11]
At the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France, Timmers earned his first two career medals in an international competition. In the 200 m freestyle, he touched second behind Agnel with a new short-course Belgian record of 1:43.08.[12][13] Timmers also solidified his Belgian team (Vanluchene, Grandjean, and Aerents) with a bronze in the 4×50 m freestyle relay, posting a time of 1:25.60.[12]
At the 2016 Olympics Timmers won the silver medal in the men's 100 m freestyle. He finished with a time of 47.80, breaking his own Belgian Record and was awarded with a silver medal. He also swam the 4x100 m relay to a 6th place in a new Belgian Record, and the Belgian team finished 8th in the 4x200 m freestyle relay.
In 2019 Timmers was member of the 2019 International Swimming League representing Team Iron. In 2020 he joined the New York Breakers and ended his career with a 4x100 m freestyle mixed relay in Budapest.
Belgium
Belgium
