Mark Kerry
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Mark Kerry (born August 4, 1959) is a former Australian backstroke swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three medals in Olympics competition, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a member of the Quietly Confident Quartet. During his career, he won twelve Australian Championships.
Initially trained by his mother, Kerry enjoyed success in swimming and surf lifesaving in his teenage years. His swimming career progressed to senior Australian level after he switched to the tutelage of John Rigby and moved to Queensland. He made his debut at the 1976 Australian Championships and promptly won the 200 freestyle and backstroke to win selection for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal at the young age of 16. At the Olympics, Kerry managed to reach the final in two events, coming seventh and fifth in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke respectively. He was disappointed with his performances, but they attracted the attention of American coach Doc Counsilman, who invited him to compete for his University of Indiana team. Kerry set Australian records while in the United States but his international career hit trouble when he was expelled from the 1978 Commonwealth Games team for disciplinary reasons.
Kerry returned to Australia in 1980 for the national championships and gained selection for his second Olympics, in Moscow by winning the backstroke double. Kerry then declined financial offers and resisted political pressure from the government of Australia to boycott the Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and went on to win a bronze in the 200 m backstroke after missing the final in the 100 m. The peak of his career came in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, where he led off the winning team, marking the only time that the United States did not win the event at the Olympics. After the Olympics, Kerry took an extended break from the sport, before returning for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He claimed a bronze as part of the medley relay and came fifth in the 100 m backstroke. He then retired and took up a television and modelling career in the United States.
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[edit] Early years
Born in Temora, New South Wales, near the regional centre of Wagga Wagga, Kerry was one of two sons born to a car salesman. Kerry's mother was a swimming teacher who ran her own swimming school. Kerry was taught to swim by his mother, whom he regarded as a perfectionist who placed great emphasis on style. His mother convinced him to concentrate on backstroke.[1] Kerry grew up participating in a wide range of sports, representing Wollongong High School in tennis, athletics and swimming. He also competed four times in the State cross-country championships. Once his family had moved to the seaside city of Wollongong, Kerry endeared himself with the surf, which he found much more entertaining and exciting due to the variable nature of the water. Kerry steadily rose through the surf lifesaving ranks, competing at State Championship level. In 1974, Kerry won the Cadet Malibu event in the Australian Championships, and the following year he was second in the surf race at the Australian Open Surfing Championships. In the meantime, Kerry was also competing in pool swimming. He had his first competitive race at the age of 12 in 1971. At the same time, Brad Cooper, who went on to win the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in the following year, was living in Wollongong and they often trained together, allowing Kerry to learn from him. In 1974, Kerry competed in the Australian Age Championships in freestyle. In 1975, he moved north to Queensland to train with John Rigby at the Valley Pool in Brisbane. At the time of his move, Kerry was ranked around 200th in the world in backstroke.[2]
[edit] International debut: 1976 Olympics
Kerry had improved to the extent that by November 1975, his times has dropped from around 2 m 10 s to around 2 m 3.0 s, making him the third ranked swimmer in the 200 m backstroke in the world. As a result of his strong pool performances, Kerry decided to stop his surf racing to concentrate fully on swimming. Kerry made his debut at the 1976 Australian Championships, winning the 200 m freestyle and backstroke events in a time of 1 m 54.33 s and 2 m 3.58 s, as well as the 4 × 200 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m medley relays for New South Wales. Aged 16, Kerry won selection for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke, the 200 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Kerry was second in his heat of the 200 m freestyle heat, but was four seconds off the pace and did not qualify for the final. Kerry found more success in the 100 m backstroke, where he won his heat in 57.99 s and then scraped into the final as the slowest qualifier in a time of 58.04 s. His improved time of 57.94 s in the final saw him place seventh, ahead of fellow Australian Mark Tonelli, but more than two second behind the victorious John Naber of the United States.[2] In the 200 m event, Kerry put in a personal best time of 2 m 3.58 s in the heat to qualify for the final, but swam slower in the final to finish fifth in a time of 2 4.07 s, this time a place behind Tonelli. Kerry combined with Paul Jarvie, Neil Rogers and Peter Coughlan in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, placing sixth.[3]
Kerry was disappointed with his performance at the Games, feeling that he had failed to perform to his potential amid the pressure and excitement of an Olympics. However, he felt that his racing experience against Naber and Roland Matthes would hold him in good stead. On a brighter note, Kerry's performances impressed the leading American coach Doc Counsilman, who invited him to come and swim at Indiana University after Kerry finished his secondary schooling in Australia.[3] Kerry successfully defended his 200 m backstroke national title in 1977, although the time was more than four seconds slower than his time of the previous year. He combined with his New South Wales teammates to win all three relays, but in times substantially slower than in the Olympic year that had preceded them. The performances earned Kerry selection for the Australian team to travel to London for the Coca Cola Meet, but Kerry felt that his motivation was lacking after the reaching the Olympics. Upon returning, he decided to absent himself from selection in such events.[3]
[edit] US college stint and expulsion for disciplinary issues
In January 1978, Kerry arrived in the United States, enrolling at Indiana University, studying Theatre, Drama and Communications. Based on the times that he recorded in the United States while swimming for Indiana, Kerry was selected for the Australian squad for the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.[3] However, his international career appeared to be in disarray when along with two teammates, Mark Tonelli and Jim Jackson, he was expelled from the Australian team after a disciplinary breach at a training camp in Honolulu, Hawaii.[4][5][6] Kerry returned to Indiana and intensified his training and in 1979 he competed at the US National Championships at Fort Lauderdale, where he set Australian records in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke in times of 56.50 s and 2 m 2.61 s respectively. Over time, Kerry became increasingly discontented with Counsilman, who was spending increasing amounts of times away from the university, preoccupied with various business commitments and an attempt to swim across the English Channel. Kerry transferred to the University of Southern California, which was coached by Peter Kaland, who was Naber's mentor.[3]
[edit] 1980 Olympics
- See also: Swimming at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Aiming to reach his second Olympics, Kerry returned to Australia to compete in the 1980 National Championships, where he won the both backstroke events and was a member of the 4 × 100 m medley and freestyle relay teams for New South Wales which took the national title. This earned Kerry his second trip to an Olympic Games, this time being held in Moscow.[7] However, another obstacle arose with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which resulted in a boycott of the Games by a large part of the Western World, led by the United States. The Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was also the patron of the Australian Olympic Committee, and significant political pressure came to bear on the athletes to boycott the Games. Kerry's team-mate Tonelli however, realised that only the sportspeople would suffer from a boycott and that trade relations would continue unabated. He took a leadership role among the athletes to fight for their right to compete.[4][8] Kerry was equally adamant that he was going to compete, unlike some other swimmers who decided to make personal boycotts. He received offers from Australian officials to boycott the Games in return to financial payments. He said
I felt the biggest statement we could make was to go to Moscow and show the world. If there was a total boycott, fine, but trade was still going on. It was disgusting Why should the athletes be made to suffer?[7]
Kerry arrived in Moscow facing a four event schedule: he was nominated in both backstroke events and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and the 4 × 100 m medley relay. With the Americans and many other western swimmers absent, Australian officials were confident that their three entrants in the 100 m backstroke, Kerry, Tonelli and Glenn Patching would all make the final and win medals. Kerry came third in both his heat and semi-final, clocking 58.08 s and 58.07 s respectively, missing out on the final by just 0.02 s. Patching missed the final after slipping on the starting wall in his race, while Tonelli went on to finish seventh. Kerry bounced back in the 200 m backstroke and won his heat before claiming bronze in a personal best time of 2 m 3.14 s behind the Hungarian duo of Sandor Wladar and Zoltan Verraszto.[6] His medal was the first in an individual backstroke event by an Australian since David Theile in 1960.[7] In the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, he combined with Tonelli, Max Metzker and Ron McKeon as Australia came seventh.[7]
[edit] Relay victory
The 4 × 100 m medley relay was the focal point of Kerry's Moscow campaign. The event had always been won by the United States since its inception at the Olympics at the 1960 Games, and their boycott had opened up the field in the event. In the five times the event had been contested, Australia's best result had come in the inaugural race, where it out-touched Japan to claim silver. The only other time that it won a medal was in 1964, with a bronze. The previous outing in 1976 had seen Australia eliminated in the heats. Australia was regarded as a chance of a medal, but were not seen as the main threats, with Sweden, Great Britain and the Soviet Union being the most heavily fancied teams. The Soviet Union boasted the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, and their butterflyer and freestyler had come fifth and fourth respectively. The British boasted Duncan Goodhew, the breaststroke gold medallist, while Sweden's butterflyer and backstroker had won their respective events and their freestyle swimmer had come second in the 100 m.[9] Australia's team paled in comparison on paper. Neil Brooks, the freestyler, had come seventh after having an asthma attack,[10] and Peter Evans was the only individual medallist in the distance, claiming bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.[11] Kerry had been eliminated in the backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer,[1] despite having performed better than Kerry in the 100 m backstroke.[7][8] Adding to the pressure was the fact that Australia won no gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in any sport, so the public were still awaiting their first gold since the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.[12]
Australia's prospects improved after the morning heats when Sweden was disqualified. Tonelli, the eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, convened the team as its de facto leader. He asked his team-mates to commit to swimming their legs in a certain time; Kerry vowed to swim the backstroked in 57 s, Evans the breaststroke in 63 s flat, Tonelli the butterfly in 54 s and Brooks promised to anchor the team in 49.8 s, even though he had never gone faster than 51 s in his career. Tonelli named the foursome as the Quietly Confident Quartet, and they exhibited a quiet confidence as they lined up for the race.[13][8]
With Patching having slipped earlier in the meet, Kerry decided to rub a sticky red substance onto the soles of his feet. The Soviet hosts had also provided a carpet following the incidents, resulting in Kerry leaving red footprints in the stadium.[14] Kerry led off in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time of 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s, leaving Australia almost level with the host nation at the halfway mark. Tonelli then swam his leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster than he had done over the distance.[1] Tonelli did so with an uneven arm technique due to the uneven strength in his arms.[14] He began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre by the end of his leg. Brooks then made a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart. At the turn, he had drawn level and made a superior turn to take the lead. The Soviet freestyler pulled level at the 25 m mark before Brooks sprinted away again to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his team mates.[10] The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first ever win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women.[1][5][8]
[edit] Break and comeback
After the Olympics, Kerry took a rest from competitive swimming in 1981. He was lobbied to return to Australia in 1982 to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, so he returned, but put in only two weeks of solid training and missed selection. In 1983, he began to prepare for the Olympics, but did not start serious training until October. Kerry was confident in his ability to perform at international standards with sporadic preparation and despite having long sabbaticals in between. He attributed this to his ability to keep in 190 cm, 80 kg body in shape while not training and to his technique. He returned to Australia in 1984 and after training in Brisbane, he made the team for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in the 100 m backstroke and 4 × 100 m medley relay. Kerry swam quickly to win his heat in the 100 m in a time of 57.15 s, but was unable to improve in the final, finishing in a time of 57.18 s to finish fifth. In the medley relay, Kerry and Evans were joined by Glenn Buchanan and Mark Stockwell, who swam the butterfly and freestyle respective. They were no match for the American team, who had three of the four gold medallists in the corresponding individual events. Australia were relegated to bronze by the second-placed Canadians by just 0.02 s.[7][6][15]
After the Games, Kerry ceased his competitive swimming career and began working in Los Angeles as a male model and hosted a cable television fashion show. He married his American wife Lynda, and they split their time between Australia and the United States.[7]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Howell, p. 234.
- ^ a b Howell, p. 235.
- ^ a b c d e Howell, p. 236.
- ^ a b Howell, p. 239.
- ^ a b Andrews, pp. 440–441.
- ^ a b c Andrews, pp. 231–232.
- ^ a b c d e f g Howell, p. 237.
- ^ a b c d Gordon, p. 334.
- ^ Howell, p. 233.
- ^ a b Andrews, p. 63.
- ^ Andrews, p. 148.
- ^ Gordon, p. 333.
- ^ Howell, p. 234.
- ^ a b Howell, p. 242.
- ^ Gordon, p. 356.
[edit] References
- Andrews, Malcolm (2000). Australia at the Olympic Games. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ISBN 0-7333-0884-8.
- Gordon, Harry (1994). Australia and the Olympic Games. University of Queensland. ISBN 0-7022-2627-0.
- Howell, Max (1986). Aussie Gold. Brooks Waterloo. ISBN 0-86440-680-0.
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