Ian O’Brien

Ian Lovett O’Brien is an Australian breaststroke swimmer. He won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in world record time. He also won five Commonwealth Games gold medals and claimed a total of nine individual and six relay titles at the Australian Championships. He retired at the age of 21 due to financial pressures and went into the television industry. He is the father of Australian swimmer and Olympic medallist Andrew Lovett.

About Ian O’Brien in brief

Ian Lovett O’Brien is an Australian breaststroke swimmer. He won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in world record time. He also won five Commonwealth Games gold medals and claimed a total of nine individual and six relay titles at the Australian Championships. He retired at the age of 21 due to financial pressures and went into the television industry. His father Roy knew only one swimming stroke, the breaststroke, and his mother Thelma did not take her first swimming lesson until she was 55. He was coached by Forbes Carlile and his assistant, retired world record-breaking breaststroker Terry Gathercole. His performances gained him selection for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, where he won both the 110 and 220 yd breaststroke and the 4 × 110 yd medley relay. He successfully defended both his breaststroke titles in 1966 and 1967 before retiring to support his family. He made a comeback for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, as Australia did not have a breaststrokeker, and after a crash diet, he finished sixth in the 100 m event but failed to reach the final in the 200-metre event. He is the father of Australian swimmer and Olympic medallist Andrew Lovett, who won a gold medal in the men’s 100 yard breaststroke in the 2004 Athens Games. O’Neill’s sister Ann was a talented swimmer in her childhood years, but she preferred horseback riding.

He grew up in the rural town of Wellington, 360 kilometres from Sydney, and trained under local coach Bert Eslick. He competed in regional country swimming carnivals at Dubbo, Bathurst and Orange. In 1962, he won the 220 yard breaststroke at his first Australian Championships in the time of 2 minutes 41. 8 seconds. Within a year, he rose from being a country carnival champion to a national-level athlete, despite the death of his father in the same year. In 1963, he set personal bests in both breaststroke double at theAustralian Championships, setting personal best times in both events in both 110 yd and 220yd. He then competed in his first international competition and won gold in each of three events with fellow Australian William Burton in 1 min 11. 4 s and 2 minute 38. 3 s. In 1964, he came from third at the 150 m mark to win the gold medal. He added a second gold as part of the New South Wales team that won the 4  ×100 m medley  relay in a time of 4 min 18. 3 s. He later competed in the 4-×110 medley relays, combining with Julian Carroll, Kevin Berry, David Berry and David Berry to complete the race in a 4 minute 12 s 4  seconds. In 1966, he was selected for the Australian team competing in Europe with the Soviet Union, Germany and England.

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