Gary O'Toole

Last updated

Gary O'Toole
Personal information
Full nameGary Charles O'Toole
NationalityIrish
Born (1968-08-06) 6 August 1968 (age 55)
Ireland
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
StrokesBreaststroke, Medley
Medal record
Men's Swimming
Representing Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
European Championships - Long Course
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1989 Bonn 200 m breaststroke
Summer Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1991 Sheffield 200 m breaststroke

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]

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References

  1. "Gary O'Toole". Sports Reference. 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  2. "Irish Records". Swim Ireland . Archived from the original on 24 September 2008 via WayBack Machine.
  3. McCarthy, Justine (7 February 1998). "The Drowning of the Truth". Independent.ie .
  4. "Swim Ireland move to prevent early release". Independent.ie . Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  5. "Mr Gary O'Toole". Beacon Hospital.
  6. RTÉ's Olympic TV coverage until 2012Archived 12 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Darragh Maloney interviews Gary O'Toole (2012)". RTÉ Archives. 2012.