Australia has a rich history in swimming. Swimming is Australia’s most outstanding Olympic sport, with 58 swimming gold medals out of our 135 gold medal count.
Australia was first represented at the Paris Olympics in 1900 by Frederic Lane who won two individual gold medals. Women’s events were added during the 1912 Olympic Games where Fanny Durack and Whilhelmina ‘Mina’ Wylie represented Australia and won gold and silver in the 100m freestyle.
Laurie Lawrence made it onto the ASCTA coaches honour list in 1982 for his success as a swimming coach. His coaching achievements boast 10 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals from swimmers he has directly assisted with a combined 23 world record holders.
Swimming Australia Ltd is the peak body for competitive swimming in Australia. They are responsible for accrediting coaches and assists more than 900 swimming clubs throughout Australia. Visit their website for fantastic information on swimming history and information on the Australian swimming team.
http://www.swimming.org.au/history.html