Ian O'Brien
Encyclopedia
Ian Lovett O'Brien is a former Australian breaststroke
swimmer of the 1960s, who won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics
in Tokyo
in world record time. He won five Commonwealth Games
gold medals and claimed a total of nine individual and six relay titles at the Australian Championships, before retiring at the age of 21 due to financial pressures.
After showing promise at an early age, O'Brien was sent to Sydney
to train under renowned coach Forbes Carlile
and his breaststroke assistant Terry Gathercole
. He competed in his first national championships in 1962 at the age of 15, winning the 220 yard breaststroke to gain selection for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
in Perth
, where he won both the 110 and 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke and the 4 × 110 yd medley relay. He won both breaststroke events at the 1963 Australian Championships, repeating the feat for the next three years. In 1964, O'Brien went to the Tokyo Olympics and came from third at the 150 m mark to win the gold medal. He added a bronze in the medley relay. O'Brien successfully defended both his breaststroke titles at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
in Kingston, Jamaica
, before retiring to support his family. Swimming officials persuaded him to make a comeback for the 1968 Summer Olympics
in Mexico City
as Australia did not have a breaststroker, and after a crash diet
, came sixth in the 100 m event but failed to reach the final in the 200 m event. He then retired and went into the television industry.
, did athletics, swimming and rode horses. In 1954, a chlorinated pool was built in the town, leading to the formation of Wellington Swimming Club. At the age of 10, he began competitive swimming under local coach Bert Eslick, and raced in regional country swimming carnivals at Dubbo, Bathurst
and Orange
.
After winning all the breaststroke events at the country championships, O'Brien was taken by his father to the Ryde
pool in Sydney in 1960, to be coached by Forbes Carlile
and his assistant, retired world record-breaking breaststroker Terry Gathercole
. Carlile was regarded as the leading swimming coach in Australia at the time. At age 13, O'Brien was already a large teenager, weighing in at 82.6 kg. He only trained with Gathercole during holidays, when his father could take him to Sydney; Jim Wilkins, a Catholic priest in Bathurst, supervised him according to Gathercole's program while he was in the countryside. Within a year, O'Brien rose from being a country carnival champion to a national-level athlete, despite the death of his father in the same year.
He later on had a son named Tim.
in Perth
. At his first international competition, he won gold in each of his three events. He competed in the 110 yd (100.6 m) and 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke, defeating fellow Australian William Burton in both events with times of 1 min 11.4s and 2 min 38.1 s, respectively. He then completed his campaign with a victory in the 4 × 110 yd medley relay, combining with Julian Carroll, Kevin Berry
and David Dickson
to complete the race in a time of 4 min 12.4 s.
In 1963, O'Brien captured the breaststroke double at the Australian Championships, setting personal bests in both events, and was a member of the New South Wales team that won the medley relay. His performances earned him selection for an overseas tour to Europe with the Australian team, competing in the Soviet Union, Germany and England, before visiting Japan and Hong Kong
. O'Brien defended his breaststroke double at the 1964 Australian Championships, lowering his times to 1 min 8.1 s and 2 min 32.6 s for the 100 metres (m) and 200 m breaststroke respectively. He capped off his campaign as well as a third consecutive medley relay triumph for New South Wales. Within a year, he had reduced his times in the two events by more than 3%. As O'Brien was widely regarded as Australia's best breaststroker, he was selected for the 1964 Summer Olympics
in Tokyo. O'Brien joined the rest of the team for the national camp before the Olympics in Ayr
in northern Queensland
, where he trained under head coach Don Talbot
. O'Brien described Talbot as a "slavedriver", but felt that the experience was invaluable.
, O'Brien was nominated in the 200 m event and the medley relay; the 100 m event was yet to be included in the Olympic program. The favourites for the 200 m breaststroke were Chet Jastremski
of the United States—the world record holder—and Georgy Prokopenko of the Soviet Union
. Gathercole had modelled O'Brien's technique on that of Jastremski, attempting to refine and smoothen it. Years after O'Brien retired, Harry Gallagher said that "Ian O'Brien has an almost faultless style and is a great example for Australian youngsters to copy". O'Brien was known for the strength that his torso generated, and his powerful kicks; sports science
experiments showed that his vertical jump
was especially strong. O'Brien was also known for his efficient start. He often gained a lead of approximately a metre from his dive and underwater glide at the start, and was able to complete 50 m in 31.0 s.
During the final training sessions in Tokyo, Talbot organised time trials for the Australians, which were held in front of opposition swimmers in an attempt to intimidate them. O'Brien posted a time of 2 min 33 s, which Talbot felt had a negative psychological effect on O'Brien's opponents. When competition started, O'Brien swam an Olympic record to win the first heat by 2.0 s. He posted a time of 2 min 31.4 s, reducing the previous Olympic mark by 5.8 s, an indication of how much the world record had fallen in the preceding four years. However, in the next heat, Egon Henninger of Germany immediately lowered the mark, and by the end of the heats, O'Brien was the fourth fastest qualifier for the semifinals, with both Prokopenko and Jastremski posting faster times. O'Brien lowered Henninger's Olympic record by winning the second semifinal in a time of 2 min 28.7 s, after Jastremski had won the first semifinal in a time that was 3.4 s slower than O'Brien. This made O'Brien the fastest qualifier for the final, with a time that was 1.0 s faster than the next qualifier Prokopenko, who came second to him in the second semifinal. O'Brien planned to swim the race at an even pace and record even splits for the first and second half of the race. He was mindful of not chasing Jastremski, who was known for an aggressive opening style, which resulted in a faster first half.
In the final, Jastremski attacked from the outset as expected, while O'Brien raced with a characteristically even pace. After being fourth at the halfway mark behind Jastremski, Prokopenko and Henninger, O'Brien panicked and accelerated in the third 50 m and overtook Jastremski, leaving the American in fourth place. He then moved past Henninger, before overtaking Prokopenko. O'Brien's acceleration in the third meant that he tired at the end, but he had enough energy to fend off Prokopenko in the late stages to win the gold medal in a new world record time of 2 min 27.8 s, a margin of 0.4 s, with Jastremski a further 1.4 s in arrears. O'Brien had reduced his personal best time by more than four seconds during the Olympics to claim an upset win.
The Australian coaches rested O'Brien for the heats of the 4 × 100 m medley relay; Peter Tonkin swam the breaststroke leg instead. It turned out to be a close call for the Australians, as they finished fourth in their heat and qualified seventh fastest, only 1.2 s from elimination. In the final, O'Brien was brought into the team to combine with Peter Reynolds
, Berry and Dickson. At the end of Reynolds' backstroke leg, Australia were sixth, 3.4 s behind the American leaders. O'Brien dived in and completed his leg in 1 min 7.8 s, a breaststroke split bettered by only Henninger and Prokopenko. This pulled Australia up to fourth position, 1.7 s in arrears of the Americans at the halfway mark. Australia progressed further to finish third behind the United States and Germany in a time of 4 min 2.3 s, missing the silver by 0.7 s.
in Kingston, Jamaica
. Critics had written him off, because just six weeks before the competition, he was 16 kg overweight. However, he returned to his peak form by the time the team reached Jamaica, where he won both breaststroke events with times of 1 min 8.2 s and 2 min 29.3 s respectively. His winning run in the 4 × 100 m medley relay came to an end when the Australians were disqualified for an illegal changeover.
In 1967, O'Brien skipped the Australian Championships because he had no sponsorship and ran out of money, forcing him to seek full time work. In 1968, despite Graham Edwards winning the National 200 m breaststroke title, the Australian Swimming Union persuaded an overweight O'Brien to make a comeback. Undergoing a crash diet and fitness program, O'Brien lost 12.7 kg in twelve weeks of intense training. O'Brien was unable to reclaim either of his individual Australian titles, but New South Wales again won the medley relay. Nevertheless, he was selected for his second Olympics.
At the 1968 Summer Olympics
in Mexico
, O'Brien placed second in his heat of the 200 m breaststroke in a time of 2 min 36.8 s, which placed him 13th. He was eliminated, having been 2.9 s slower than the last-placed qualifier for the final. The eventual winner posted a time 0.9 s slower than that of O'Brien four years earlier. O'Brien did better in the newly introduced 100 m event, winning his heat in a time of 1 min 8.9 s to qualify second-fastest for the semifinals. O'Brien scraped into the final after coming second in his semifinal in a time of 1 min 9.0 s. It was the barest of margins; O'Brien was the slowest qualifier and could not be electronically separated from the ninth-fastest semifinalist, with judges being used to decide the placings. O'Brien went on to finish sixth in a time of 1 min 8.6 s.
O'Brien narrowly missed a medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Along with Michael Wenden
, Robert Cusack
and Karl Byrom, the Australian quartet won their heat and entered the final as the equal fifth fastest qualifier. In the final, O'Brien swam his leg in 1 min 8.6 s, which was only the fifth fastest breaststroke leg. Australia were fourth at the end of each leg, except O'Brien's, when they were third. Australia eventually missed out on the bronze by 0.1 s to the Soviet Union. O'Brien admitted that his training had been insufficient for Olympic standards, noting that "I needed to put on another thousand kilometres in training". O'Brien also rued the absence of Talbot to motivate him to work, and had a further accident at the Olympic Village when his fingers were slammed by a closing window. Under competition regulations, he was not allowed to bind his hand during competition.
after returning from the Tokyo Olympics, which he held for more than ten years. He then worked for Channel Ten for two years, before working for an independent production company for another two years. In 1979, he started Videopak, which became one of the largest privately owned television documentary companies in Australia. Videopak's sound stages were used by public and private television companies.
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
swimmer of the 1960s, who won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in world record time. He won five Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
gold medals and claimed a total of nine individual and six relay titles at the Australian Championships, before retiring at the age of 21 due to financial pressures.
After showing promise at an early age, O'Brien was sent to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to train under renowned coach Forbes Carlile
Forbes Carlile
Forbes Carlile MBE was Australia's first post-World War II Olympics swimming coach and later Australia's first competitor in the modern pentathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He remains the only person to have coached and later competed at the Olympic Games.Born in Armadale, Victoria,...
and his breaststroke assistant Terry Gathercole
Terry Gathercole
Terrence Stephen Gathercole OAM , was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1960 Rome Olympics...
. He competed in his first national championships in 1962 at the age of 15, winning the 220 yard breaststroke to gain selection for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, Australia from 22 November-1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth....
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, where he won both the 110 and 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke and the 4 × 110 yd medley relay. He won both breaststroke events at the 1963 Australian Championships, repeating the feat for the next three years. In 1964, O'Brien went to the Tokyo Olympics and came from third at the 150 m mark to win the gold medal. He added a bronze in the medley relay. O'Brien successfully defended both his breaststroke titles at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica from 4 August to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions....
in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, before retiring to support his family. Swimming officials persuaded him to make a comeback for the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
as Australia did not have a breaststroker, and after a crash diet
Crash diet
A crash diet is a diet which is extreme in its nutritional deprivations, typically severely restricting calorie intake. It is meant to achieve rapid weight loss and may differ from outright starvation only slightly. It is not meant to last for long periods of time, at most a few weeks. ...
, came sixth in the 100 m event but failed to reach the final in the 200 m event. He then retired and went into the television industry.
Early years
O'Brien grew up in the rural town of Wellington, 360 kilometres (223.7 mi) from Sydney. Neither of his parents were skilled swimmers. 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. O'Brien's sister Anne was a talented swimmer in her childhood years, but she preferred horseback riding. The local pool was an old-style facility that had no pump system and was only manually drained once a week. Aged four, O'Brien got his first swimming lessons from the local Learn to Swim program. There were not many non-sporting activities for children in Wellington, and O'Brien played basketball and rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, did athletics, swimming and rode horses. In 1954, a chlorinated pool was built in the town, leading to the formation of Wellington Swimming Club. At the age of 10, he began competitive swimming under local coach Bert Eslick, and raced in regional country swimming carnivals at Dubbo, Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
and Orange
Orange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....
.
After winning all the breaststroke events at the country championships, O'Brien was taken by his father to the Ryde
Ryde, New South Wales
Ryde is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ryde is located 13 km north-west of the Sydney central business district and 8 km east of Parramatta. Ryde is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Ryde and part of the Northern Suburbs area...
pool in Sydney in 1960, to be coached by Forbes Carlile
Forbes Carlile
Forbes Carlile MBE was Australia's first post-World War II Olympics swimming coach and later Australia's first competitor in the modern pentathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He remains the only person to have coached and later competed at the Olympic Games.Born in Armadale, Victoria,...
and his assistant, retired world record-breaking breaststroker Terry Gathercole
Terry Gathercole
Terrence Stephen Gathercole OAM , was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1960 Rome Olympics...
. Carlile was regarded as the leading swimming coach in Australia at the time. At age 13, O'Brien was already a large teenager, weighing in at 82.6 kg. He only trained with Gathercole during holidays, when his father could take him to Sydney; Jim Wilkins, a Catholic priest in Bathurst, supervised him according to Gathercole's program while he was in the countryside. Within a year, O'Brien rose from being a country carnival champion to a national-level athlete, despite the death of his father in the same year.
He later on had a son named Tim.
International debut
In 1962, O'Brien gained selection for the Australian swimming team at the age of 15 when he won the 220 yard (yd) breaststroke at his first Australian Championships in the time of 2 minutes (min) 41.8 seconds (s). 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. His performances gained him selection for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, Australia from 22 November-1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth....
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. At his first international competition, he won gold in each of his three events. He competed in the 110 yd (100.6 m) and 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke, defeating fellow Australian William Burton in both events with times of 1 min 11.4s and 2 min 38.1 s, respectively. He then completed his campaign with a victory in the 4 × 110 yd medley relay, combining with Julian Carroll, Kevin Berry
Kevin Berry
Kevin John Berry OAM was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s who won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He set twelve world records in his career...
and David Dickson
David Dickson (swimmer)
David Dickson was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, 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.-1960 Summer Olympics:Dickson was selected to make his international debut at...
to complete the race in a time of 4 min 12.4 s.
In 1963, O'Brien captured the breaststroke double at the Australian Championships, setting personal bests in both events, and was a member of the New South Wales team that won the medley relay. His performances earned him selection for an overseas tour to Europe with the Australian team, competing in the Soviet Union, Germany and England, before visiting Japan and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. O'Brien defended his breaststroke double at the 1964 Australian Championships, lowering his times to 1 min 8.1 s and 2 min 32.6 s for the 100 metres (m) and 200 m breaststroke respectively. He capped off his campaign as well as a third consecutive medley relay triumph for New South Wales. Within a year, he had reduced his times in the two events by more than 3%. As O'Brien was widely regarded as Australia's best breaststroker, he was selected for the 1964 Summer Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
in Tokyo. O'Brien joined the rest of the team for the national camp before the Olympics in Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
in northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, where he trained under head coach Don Talbot
Don Talbot
Don Talbot OBE is an Olympic swimming coach from Australia. He has coached national teams for Canada and Australia.-Canada:Since the 1950s Talbot has coached Olympic champions and World Record holders for a thirty year period...
. O'Brien described Talbot as a "slavedriver", but felt that the experience was invaluable.
Olympic gold
Arriving in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, O'Brien was nominated in the 200 m event and the medley relay; the 100 m event was yet to be included in the Olympic program. The favourites for the 200 m breaststroke were Chet Jastremski
Chet Jastremski
Chester Andrew Jastremski is a former American Olympic swimmer who won the bronze medal in the 200 meter Breaststroke at the 1964 Tokyo Games. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977. He also swam with the Indiana Hoosiers swim team...
of the United States—the world record holder—and Georgy Prokopenko of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Gathercole had modelled O'Brien's technique on that of Jastremski, attempting to refine and smoothen it. Years after O'Brien retired, Harry Gallagher said that "Ian O'Brien has an almost faultless style and is a great example for Australian youngsters to copy". O'Brien was known for the strength that his torso generated, and his powerful kicks; sports science
Sports science
Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
experiments showed that his vertical jump
Vertical jump
A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of raising one's center of gravity higher in the vertical plane solely with the use of one's own muscles; it is a measure of how high an individual or athlete can elevate off the ground from a standstill.-Types of vertical jump:The vertical jump is...
was especially strong. O'Brien was also known for his efficient start. He often gained a lead of approximately a metre from his dive and underwater glide at the start, and was able to complete 50 m in 31.0 s.
During the final training sessions in Tokyo, Talbot organised time trials for the Australians, which were held in front of opposition swimmers in an attempt to intimidate them. O'Brien posted a time of 2 min 33 s, which Talbot felt had a negative psychological effect on O'Brien's opponents. When competition started, O'Brien swam an Olympic record to win the first heat by 2.0 s. He posted a time of 2 min 31.4 s, reducing the previous Olympic mark by 5.8 s, an indication of how much the world record had fallen in the preceding four years. However, in the next heat, Egon Henninger of Germany immediately lowered the mark, and by the end of the heats, O'Brien was the fourth fastest qualifier for the semifinals, with both Prokopenko and Jastremski posting faster times. O'Brien lowered Henninger's Olympic record by winning the second semifinal in a time of 2 min 28.7 s, after Jastremski had won the first semifinal in a time that was 3.4 s slower than O'Brien. This made O'Brien the fastest qualifier for the final, with a time that was 1.0 s faster than the next qualifier Prokopenko, who came second to him in the second semifinal. O'Brien planned to swim the race at an even pace and record even splits for the first and second half of the race. He was mindful of not chasing Jastremski, who was known for an aggressive opening style, which resulted in a faster first half.
In the final, Jastremski attacked from the outset as expected, while O'Brien raced with a characteristically even pace. After being fourth at the halfway mark behind Jastremski, Prokopenko and Henninger, O'Brien panicked and accelerated in the third 50 m and overtook Jastremski, leaving the American in fourth place. He then moved past Henninger, before overtaking Prokopenko. O'Brien's acceleration in the third meant that he tired at the end, but he had enough energy to fend off Prokopenko in the late stages to win the gold medal in a new world record time of 2 min 27.8 s, a margin of 0.4 s, with Jastremski a further 1.4 s in arrears. O'Brien had reduced his personal best time by more than four seconds during the Olympics to claim an upset win.
The Australian coaches rested O'Brien for the heats of the 4 × 100 m medley relay; Peter Tonkin swam the breaststroke leg instead. It turned out to be a close call for the Australians, as they finished fourth in their heat and qualified seventh fastest, only 1.2 s from elimination. In the final, O'Brien was brought into the team to combine with Peter Reynolds
Peter Reynolds
Peter Askin Reynolds was an Australian freestyle and medley swimmer of the 1960s, who won a bronze medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo...
, Berry and Dickson. At the end of Reynolds' backstroke leg, Australia were sixth, 3.4 s behind the American leaders. O'Brien dived in and completed his leg in 1 min 7.8 s, a breaststroke split bettered by only Henninger and Prokopenko. This pulled Australia up to fourth position, 1.7 s in arrears of the Americans at the halfway mark. Australia progressed further to finish third behind the United States and Germany in a time of 4 min 2.3 s, missing the silver by 0.7 s.
Later career
O'Brien completed a hat-trick of breaststroke doubles at the 1965 Australian Championships, but in a year with no international competition, he swam much slower times of 1 min 11.1 s and 2 min 38.6 s respectively. He completed a fourth consecutive medley relay win with New South Wales. At the 1966 Australian Championships, his times were again slower, at 1 min 11.8 s and 2 min 41.6 s respectively, more than 4% slower than his personal bests, but it was still enough to retain his titles and qualify for the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica from 4 August to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions....
in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
. Critics had written him off, because just six weeks before the competition, he was 16 kg overweight. However, he returned to his peak form by the time the team reached Jamaica, where he won both breaststroke events with times of 1 min 8.2 s and 2 min 29.3 s respectively. His winning run in the 4 × 100 m medley relay came to an end when the Australians were disqualified for an illegal changeover.
In 1967, O'Brien skipped the Australian Championships because he had no sponsorship and ran out of money, forcing him to seek full time work. In 1968, despite Graham Edwards winning the National 200 m breaststroke title, the Australian Swimming Union persuaded an overweight O'Brien to make a comeback. Undergoing a crash diet and fitness program, O'Brien lost 12.7 kg in twelve weeks of intense training. O'Brien was unable to reclaim either of his individual Australian titles, but New South Wales again won the medley relay. Nevertheless, he was selected for his second Olympics.
At the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, O'Brien placed second in his heat of the 200 m breaststroke in a time of 2 min 36.8 s, which placed him 13th. He was eliminated, having been 2.9 s slower than the last-placed qualifier for the final. The eventual winner posted a time 0.9 s slower than that of O'Brien four years earlier. O'Brien did better in the newly introduced 100 m event, winning his heat in a time of 1 min 8.9 s to qualify second-fastest for the semifinals. O'Brien scraped into the final after coming second in his semifinal in a time of 1 min 9.0 s. It was the barest of margins; O'Brien was the slowest qualifier and could not be electronically separated from the ninth-fastest semifinalist, with judges being used to decide the placings. O'Brien went on to finish sixth in a time of 1 min 8.6 s.
O'Brien narrowly missed a medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Along with Michael Wenden
Michael Wenden
Michael Vincent Wenden AM MBE was a champion swimmer who represented Australia in the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics...
, Robert Cusack
Robert Cusack
Robert Cusack was an Australian butterfly and freestyle swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s, who won a bronze medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics....
and Karl Byrom, the Australian quartet won their heat and entered the final as the equal fifth fastest qualifier. In the final, O'Brien swam his leg in 1 min 8.6 s, which was only the fifth fastest breaststroke leg. Australia were fourth at the end of each leg, except O'Brien's, when they were third. Australia eventually missed out on the bronze by 0.1 s to the Soviet Union. O'Brien admitted that his training had been insufficient for Olympic standards, noting that "I needed to put on another thousand kilometres in training". O'Brien also rued the absence of Talbot to motivate him to work, and had a further accident at the Olympic Village when his fingers were slammed by a closing window. Under competition regulations, he was not allowed to bind his hand during competition.
Out of the pool
At age 21, O'Brien retired after the 1968 Olympics, so he could concentrate solely on making a living. Since his father's death in 1962, O'Brien's swimming career had caused substantial financial stress for his family, with his mother having to sell the family home to make ends meet. O'Brien had also been forced to leave high school before he had completed his leaving certificate, so that he could support the family's income by wrapping parcels. Television and camera work had always interested O'Brien, and he secured a job as a stagehand for Channel NineNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
after returning from the Tokyo Olympics, which he held for more than ten years. He then worked for Channel Ten for two years, before working for an independent production company for another two years. In 1979, he started Videopak, which became one of the largest privately owned television documentary companies in Australia. Videopak's sound stages were used by public and private television companies.