| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary Charles O'Toole | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Irish | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 6 August 1968 Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke, Medley | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gary O'Toole is a retired Irish Olympic swimmer. He represented Ireland at the Seoul and Barcelona Games. [1]
While studying at University College Dublin, O'Toole won a 200 m breaststroke silver medal at the 1989 European Long Course Championships in Bonn. He also won a gold medal at the World University Championships in 1991 when representing University College Dublin and UCD. He helped to break 5 National relay records, including Short Course and Long Course. [2]
As a prominent member of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association, O'Toole had been approached to make representations on behalf of the victims of the George Gibney scandal. [3] Gibney, who coached O'Toole until he became aware of these allegations, criticised O'Toole publicly during the 1992 Olympics. His complaints were ignored and led to a major investigation into the incidents and ultimately to the disbandment of the IASA and the creation of Swim Ireland. [4]
Since his retirement from professional swimming, O'Toole has been a practising Orthopedic surgeon with a specialist interest in adult arthritis (both hip and knee) and knee sports injuries. He also has a keen interest in musculoskeletal cancer (bone and soft tissue tumours). [5] He continued to provide expert analysis for RTÉ Sport's Olympic swimming coverage. [6] [7]