Murray Rose was a sporting gentleman, a gentle man, and one helluva swimmer.
The fair-haired hero in the pool at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics died in Sydney yesterday of leukemia, aged 73.
Rose’s lifelong vegetarian diet of seaweed became as famous as his swimming ability. His nickname quickly became the ‘Seaweed Streak’ after capturing three gold medals in Melbourne in the 400m and 1500m freestyle and the 4 x 200m relay.
In an hour-long interview I did with Murray three years ago for Green and Gold Greats, after he’d swum his seven-days-a-week four laps of Bondi some 400 metres off the beach, he explained how the vegan diet gave him extra strength and a sense of well-being.
“Most animals only eat vegetation, and they are always a lot healthier than humans,” he said. So we agreed to disagree on ripping into a plate of seaweed, as against a thick medium-rare T-bone steak.
But it worked for Murray Rose. He was the first to crack the 18-minute barrier for the 1500m, and at 17 became the youngest ever to win three swimming golds at the same Games.
Rose followed Melbourne with another gold in Rome 1960 in the 400, silver in the 1500 behind John Konrads, and bronze in the relay.
The 400m gold was the first back-to-back in the same event, until Ian Thorpe matched the feat in 2000, and 2004.
There’s no doubt Rose was a genuine gold medal contender for both the 400m and 1500m for Tokyo 1964. But the tunnel-visioned Australian Swimming Union refused to select him when he couldn’t return for the official trials because of work commitments in the USA, despite swimming world class times at the time.
Those were the days of strict amateurism. Every swimmer had to be employed elsewhere to survive, and Rose’s survival was in the USA.
These were the same officials who ended Dawn Fraser’s stellar career, also in 1964, for allegedly nicking the Emperor’s flag from the Tokyo Palace. Dawn was innocent, but by the time the tunnel-visionists found out it was too late to correct their massive mistake.
Two wonderful careers cut short by officials who should have been sacked on the spot.
Rose’s acting career in the USA deserves special mention.
Apart from appearing in the Matlock and Magnum PI series, Rose had bigger roles in the 1964 Ride the Wild Surf starring Fabian, Barbara Eden, and Tab Hunter, and the 1968 Ice Station Zebra with Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, and Patrick McGoohan.
As much as Murray Rose enjoyed those days, he enjoyed the Olympic Games more.
“The thrill of representing Australia will always remain my greatest achievement,” he told me during that interview.
“To stand on the podium with a gold medal around my neck, listening to the national anthem, still sends shivers up my spine.”
To this day, Rose is the second most successful Australian Olympian, sharing four golds with Dawn Fraser and Betty Cuthbert behind Thorpe’s five.
And one of only seven Australians to win three golds at the same Games with Betty Cuthbert in 1956, Shane Gould in 1972, Thorpe in 2000, Petria Thomas and Jodie Henry in 2004, and Stephanie Rice in 2008.
Murray Rose was a trail-blazer and powerful poetry in motion in the pool. He was always in the sporting headlines breaking 15 world records, sharing the limelight with other sporting greats like Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Arthur Morris, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Neil Harvey, Norm Provan, and Keith Barnes – just to name a few.
So thanks for the memories ‘Seaweed Streak’ – they will live forever.
Olympic medal record
Melbourne 1956:
Gold 400m freestyle
Gold 1500m freestyle
Gold 4x200m freestyleRome 1960:
Gold 400m freestyle
Silver 1500m freestyle
Bronze 4x200m freestyle
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