Don Talbot

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Don Talbot is a former Canadian and Australian swimming coach, one of the most successful coaches the world has seen. [1] Since the 1950s he has coached Olympic champions and World Record holders for a thirty year period. The list includes John and Ilsa Konrads, Kevin Berry, Gail Neal, Mark Tewksbury, Alex Baumann, and Tracey Caulkins.

In 1981, Talbot was appointed the inaugural Direction of the Australian Institute of Sport - a position he held until 1984, when he became the national head coach for Swimming Canada, leading it to its greatest period of success in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. He was however dismissed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and replaced by Dave Johnson in 1988. It was widely alleged that Talbot was fired for refusing to put the daughter of a Committee on the national team. Afterwards, Swim Canada went into a gradual decline, winning only a bronze medal at the 2001 Sydney Olympics, and failing to medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The COC promptly fired Johnson and appointed Pierre Lafontaine, a former Talbot protege, to head the national swim program and they turned in much improved results at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships.

In 1989, Don took the reins as Australian Swimming’s National Head Coach. Under him, Australia dominated the pool in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won the 2001 World Aquatics Championships.