Mark Morgan (swimmer)

Last updated

Mark Morgan
Personal information
Birth nameMark Lincoln Morgan
NationalityAustralian
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1978 Edmonton 100 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1978 Edmonton4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg1978 Edmonton4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg1978 Edmonton200 m freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg1978 Edmonton4×100 m medley

Mark Lincoln Morgan is an Australian former swimmer who primarily competed in freestyle events.

Morgan was the Commonwealth champion in the 100 metres freestyle at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, with a time of 52.70 seconds, to finish ahead of Canadians Bill Sawchuk and Gary MacDonald. [1] He won a further four medals in Edmonton, including gold in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and a bronze in the 200m freestyle. [2]

Named in the Australian team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Morgan opted to join the boycott and announced his withdrawal in late May, two months before the event was due to begin. He wrote a letter to the Australian Olympic Federation explaining his stance, citing Russia's foreign policy and concern that an athlete's presence at the games would be used as propaganda, amongst his reasons for not going to Moscow. [3]

Related Research Articles

Neil Brooks is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. Brooks was as much known for his swimming achievements as he was for disciplinary incidents, and he often found himself in conflict with officialdom and threatened with sanctions.

Peter Maxwell Evans is an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1980s who won four Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4×100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. He also won consecutive bronze medals in the 100 m breaststroke at the 1980 Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Mark Anthony Kerry is an Australian former backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics as the backstroker for the Quietly Confident Quartet. During his career, he won twelve Australian Championships.

Mark Lyndon Tonelli, whose birth name was Mark Lyndon Leembruggen, is an Australian former backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a makeshift butterfly swimmer in the self-named Quietly Confident Quartet. Tonelli unofficially led the relay team and was an athletes' spokesperson who fought for the right of Australian Olympians to compete in the face of a government call for a boycott to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Graeme Thomas Brewer is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the late 1970s and early 1980s who won a bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In all he won 13 Australian titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Metzker</span>

Maxwell Raymond Metzker was a South African-born long-distance freestyle swimmer who represented Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He was a co-flagbearer with Denise Boyd at the opening ceremony, when Australia marched under the Olympic flag to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracey Wickham</span> Australian swimmer

Tracey Lee Wickham is an Australian former middle distance swimmer. Wickham was the World Champion for the 400 m and 800 m freestyle in 1978, and won gold in both events at the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games. She is a former world record holder for the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle. Despite her success in the pool, Wickham has battled hardship and personal tragedy throughout her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Curry</span> Australian swimmer

Lisa Gaye Curry AO MBE, also known by her married name Lisa Curry-Kenny, is an Australian former competition swimmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia at the Commonwealth Games</span> Sporting event delegation

Australia first competed at the Games, then titled the British Empire Games, in 1930; and is one of only six countries to have sent athletes to every Commonwealth Games. The others are Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales. Australian athletes competed for Australasia at the 1911 Festival of the Empire, the forerunner to the British Empire Games.

Michele (Shelly) Robyn Pearson is an Australian former medley and freestyle swimmer of the 1980s, who won a bronze medal in the 200-metre individual medley at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Her versatility saw her qualify for four finals.

David Gavin Dickson is an Australian freestyle swimmer who won three bronze medals in freestyle and medley relay events at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Rome and Tokyo respectively.

Michelle Jan Ford is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She was the only non-Soviet bloc female swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the 1980 games. She also set two world records in her career, and was the first Australian woman to win individual Olympic medals in two distinct specialised strokes.

June Alexandra Croft is an English former freestyle swimmer.

Andrew Astbury is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain at the Olympics and England in the Commonwealth Games in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Quietly Confident Quartet was the self-given name of the Australian men's 4 × 100 metres medley relay swimming team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and, through the 2016 Olympics, the Australian victory remains the only occasion the United States has not won the event at Olympic level since its inception in 1960. The quartet consisted of backstroker Mark Kerry, breaststroker Peter Evans, butterflyer Mark Tonelli, and freestyler Neil Brooks. The team was nominally led by its oldest member Tonelli, who was 23 and was also a spokesperson for the Australian athletes' campaign for their right to compete at the Olympics against the wishes of the Fraser government. The team was seen as an unlikely prospect to win; all four of the swimmers had clashed with swimming authorities over disciplinary issues and three experienced suspension or expulsion from the Australian team during their careers.

William M. Sawchuk is a Canadian former swimmer, competing in the butterfly, freestyle and medley events during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Philip C Hubble is an English former butterfly swimmer.

Zsigmond Kelevitz is an Australian freestyle wrestler who competed at three Olympic Games and three Commonwealth Games.

Melanie Anne Jones is a former New Zealand swimmer. She won a bronze medal competing for her country at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Paul Colin Rowe is a New Zealand-born Australian former swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s.

References

  1. "Morgan wins Australia's third swimming gold". The Canberra Times . 8 August 1978. p. 14 via Trove.
  2. "Quinella and record in swimming". The Canberra Times . 7 August 1978. p. 16 via Trove.
  3. "AOF losses 11 sponsors, $250,000 short". The Canberra Times . 31 May 1980. p. 1 via Trove.