With the Rio Olympics opening ceremony only four days away, Australia’s oldest Olympian, Forbes Carlile, died yesterday, aged 95.
Born in Victoria, Carlile spent most of his life in Mosman, Sydney, where I got to know him well in the late 1950s, and early ’60s.
He was a humble visionary, who lived for swimming, as best summed up by his website:
“At Carlile Swimming our aim is simple – to provide a fun, safe and caring environment for kids to learn to swim well. Each week we help 20,000-plus children become safer and more confident in and around the water.”
The perfect explanation.
But it wasn’t only kids who reaped rich rewards from being coached by Forbes Carlile, the Australian swim team were beneficiaries as well.
Carlile coached the 1948 London Australians, competed in Helsinki in the pentathlon in 1952, but was back poolside for the 1956 Melbourne, and 1960 Rome Olypmics.
Melbourne was a gold rush, with the Australians setting an unbeatable record by winning at least gold in every freestyle event.
In the men, Jon Henricks won the 100 gold, John Devitt the silver, and Gary Chapman the bronze.
Murray Rose won the 400 and 1500, and the 4×200 relay won with Kevin O’Halloran, Devitt, Rose, and Henricks.
In the women, Dawn Fraser won the 100 gold, Lorraine Crapp the silver, and Faith Leech the bronze.
Crapp won the 400, with Fraser the silver, while the 4×100 relay won gold with Fraser, Leech, Sandra Morgan, and Crapp.
Almost total domination by Australia, which will never be matched.
The golds in the pool continued in Rome 1960, with Devitt winning the 100, Rose the 400 and John Konrads the bronze. Konrads won the 1500, with Rose the silver.
And Fraser won her second of three 100 freestyle golds.
Carlile’s involvement was very special, as was his involvement with the incredible Shane Gould, who set a mark no woman will better, holding every freestyle record from the 100 to 1500, plus the 200 individual medley.
At 15, that is just mind blowing.
At 17, a shy Gould won three gold, a silver, and a bronze in Munich, then promptly retired because she couldn’t cope with the limelight.
One of the sadder moments in elite sport.
But there was nothing sad about Carlile and his wife Ursula – they were a tight-knit team for decades.
Awards and recognition kept coming for Forbes – an MBE in 1977, the International Swimming Hall of Fame 1977, Queens Jubilee Medal 1977, Sport Australia Hall of Fame 1988, ASI Life Member 2003, and NSSA Hall of Fame in 2007.
His first book, Forbes Carlile on Swimming, was published in 1963 and was a best seller worldwide.
It was also revolutionary, outlining his thoughts on pace clocks, log books, heart-rate tests, even-paced swimming, and a two-beat kick for distance events.
Forbes Carlile will be remembered as a really good bloke and a swim coach legend. It was a privilege to know him.
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