Kevin O'Halloran
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| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Australia |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Swimming | |||
| Gold | 1956 Melbourne | 4x200m Freestyle Relay | |
Kevin O'Halloran (born March 3, 1937 in Katanning, Western Australia – died July 5, 1976 in Kojonup, Western Australia) was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s, who won a gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
After his birth in Katanning, O'Halloran grew up on his family's 9000 acre sheep property at Kojonup, 40km to the west, where his grandfather had established the property in 1900. He had two brothers and a sister, and after his father enlisted in the Second World War, his mother could no longer run the farm by herself, so they moved to Katanning for seven years.
Katanning was one of the few country towns in Western Australia which had a public swimming pool. O'Halloran learnt to swim along with his siblings, often defeating boys in the town who were four years his senior. He was taught to swim by his teacher at Katanning State Primary School, herself a previous youth champion, who identified his talent. The boom in wool prices at the time of the Korean War afforded his family the opportunity of sending him to Guildford Grammar School in Perth. At the age of 14, he won five events in the school championships, and led the school to its first State Championship in 29 years. He also competed in Australian rules football and rowing.
At 15, O'Halloran competed in the Western Australian State Championships, only the second time it had been held. He won the junior 110yd freeestyle and butterfly and was second in the open 110yd, in a muddy river pool at Crawley. In 1953, he was second in the 110yd and 440yd freestyle events. He was selected for the state team for the Australian Championships, but his parents and headmaster decided that his schooling was more important, to the chagrin of his coach Don Gravenall. In 1954 he was the state champion in the 110yd and 220yd freestyle, and in 1955 added the 440yd individual medley. His debut at the Australian Championships in Adelaide resulted in a fifth placing in the 110yd freestyle, behind Jon Henricks and John Devitt.
In late 1955, O'Halloran moved to Sydney to train with Frank Guthrie in an attempt to qualify for the 1956 Summer Olympics. After adapting his technique and increasing his training load to a more rigorous regime that was normal in the eastern states, he cut 17s off his personal best time in the 440yd freestyle to 4m 55s. At the 1956 New South Wales championships, he finished third in the 220yd freestyle behind Gary Chapman and John Devitt, 10s faster than the times he swam in Western Australia. He came fourth in both the 110yd and 440yd, being more than 30s faster than his previous 440yd best in Western Australia. At the Australian Championships, he came third in the 440yd, earning an individual swim at the Olympics in the 400m event, and came fourth in the 220yd to earn a berth on the 4x200m freestyle relay team.
At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, he qualified for the 400m final, and cut 4s off his previous best to miss the bronze medal by 0.5s to the United States' George Breen, in a race won by fellow Australian Murray Rose. He later led off the 4x200m freestyle relay team, combining with Henricks, Devitt and Rose to claim the gold medal in world record time.
In 1958, his parents drove all the way to Sydney to watch him swim at the Australian Championships, but a recurring ear infection stopped him from performing at his peak. He missed selection for the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff and retired. In 1976, his body was discovered near a fence on his property next to a rifle. He had accidentally shot himself after tripping as he climbed through the fence. The 50m pool at Kojonup was named the Kevin O'Halloran Memorial Pool in his honour.
[edit] References
- Andrews, Malcolm (2000). Australia at the Olympic Games.
- Howell, Max (1986). Aussie Gold.
| Olympic champions in men's 4x200 m freestyle relay |
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1908 Great Britain - John Henry Derbyshire, Paul Radmilovic, William Foster, Henry Taylor |
