Sport

SWIMMING 

Percy Oliver (1927-35)

Percy Oliver was an Australian champion backstroke and freestyle swimmer from 1934 to 1940. He won 13 Australian titles (11 senior and two junior), and represented Australia at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney.

In 1936, Percy won the 100yds backstroke title at the Australian National Games in Adelaide which earned him a place in the Australian Olympic team for Berlin where he finished seventh in the 100yd backstroke final. Two years later he won the Empire Games 110yds backstroke gold medal in 1min 7.9sec.  His time stood as an Australian record for 17 years.  He also won a bronze medal as a member of the Australian 330yds medley relay team. Oliver did not compete in 1939 but came back powerfully to dominate the Australian championships in 1940.  He won seven events - all the freestyle titles, the 110yds backstroke, the medley and the the Barney Kieran Shield - awarded to the State achieving the highest number of first placings at the championships - for WA as a virtual one-man team.

ATHLETICS

Chas Green
(1936-40)

Born in Albany in Western Australia, Charles Green competed for Australia at the London 1948 Olympic Games. He contested the 110m Hurdles at the Games, finishing fifth in his heat in a time of 15.4 seconds. The time was not good enough to see him progress and although he was listed in the 100m and 400m relays, he did not compete.

Green won the Australian Championships for the 120 yards and 440 yards Hurdles in 1946/47 and placed third in both events at the 1950/51 Championships.

ATHLETICS

Don Keane
(1944-47)

Competed
HELSINKI-1952
MELBOURNE-1956

Don Keane competed in race walking at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, placing sixth in the 20 km walk in 1956.

He also ran cross-country in Australia. He was a seven-time Australian Champion in the 2-mile walk (1950-54, 1957-58). Keane also had five podium finishes in other walk events at the Australian nationals.

SAILING

Rolly Tasker AM (1936-42) 

A sailor since the age of six, Australian Rolly Tasker gained an interest in the sport when his parents introduced him to model ships as a young boy. He built his first racing dinghy, including the sails, at the age of ten and began a journey that would encompass, throughout the course of his life, over 7000 competitive races. Following service in World War II, where he saw action at the infamous Battle of Ambon, he founded a sail-making business and began exporting his products in 1949. His fame in the sporting realm grew rapidly as he captured Australian national titles in the 12 Square meter Sharpie class every year from 1952 through 1956, the year in which he also won an Olympic silver medal alongside [John Scott] in the Two Person Heavyweight Dinghy, Mixed event at the Melbourne Summer Games.

Rolly went on to become Australia's first world champion in yachting before competing again at Rome 1960. In 1962, he was a crew member on the Jock Sturrock-skippered Gretel in Australia’s first challenge for the America’s Cup.

ROWING

John Rosser (1950-55) 57

John has two Head of the River wins to his name; went on to stroke the winning Kings Cup crew in 1960 and compete at the Rome Olympics in the same year. He has been involved in State and World Championships and was part of the 1997 and 1980 America’s Cup campaign. In 1980, he worked with Ben Lexen to build the infamous bendy mast for that year’s challenge: recognised as one of the greatest achievements in sailing technology for that time. He became a regular race official in the mid-1980s and was heavily involved in the restoration of the Walpole Yacht Club. He played a significant role in the smooth management of the 2011 ISAF World Cup held in Perth by utilising his engineering skills to implement an automated starting system. As a volunteer during the 2006 Disabled World Championships, John created a rotating skippers seat. He continues to be a consistent and valuable contributor to the disabled racing community – having also designed the ‘Rolls Royce’ of helmsman chairs, and is still an accredited official.

John was judged Volunteer of the Year by Yachting Australia in 2015 and was also awarded the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation’s Gold Medal for outstanding service to yachting.

ROWING

Berry Durston (1953-57)

Berry competed in the men's eight event at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

ROWING

John Ledder (1950-53) 54

John represented Western Australia in three Kings Cup Rowing Events, winning in 1960 and then represented Australia at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He coached winning crews at Canberra Grammar and in later years at the Bunbury Rowing Club.

SWIMMING

Neil Brooks
(1972-75) 79

Neil Brooks swam the anchor leg when Australia won the men’s 4x100m medley relay in Moscow, teaming with Peter Evans, Mark Kerry and Mark Tonelli. Brooks, aged 17, dived in with Australia trailing the Soviet Union, but he swum a thrilling PB of 49.86 seconds to win the gold. It remains Australia’s only gold medal in the event. For fans, it is also remembered for Norman May’s famous “Gold! Gold to Australia! Gold!” call of the race.

Four years later in Los Angeles, Brooks was again a medallist on a relay team, this time placing second with Australia’s ‘Mean Machine’ in the 4x100m freestyle relay, teaming up with Greg Fasala, Mark Stockwell and Michael Delany.

SWIMMING

Deane Pieters (1977-85)

Deane Pieters is a freestyle swimmer who competed for Australia at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Deane is a former World Life Saving Champion (1990) and has won eight Australian Surf Life Saving Titles between 1990 to 1993.

ROWING

Nick Porzig
(1989-90)

Nick made his Australian representative debut in the seven seat of the men’s eight which placed fourth at the 1993 World Rowing Championships in Croatia. In 1994 he competed in the coxed fours placing fifth at the World Championships in Indianapolis and winning a gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Regatta in Ontario.

In 1995 Nick was back in the Australian eight and in 1996 placed sixth at the Atlanta Olympics. He rowed in subsequent World Rowing Championships in 1998 and 1999 alongside his younger brother, David. In 2000 the Australian eight qualified for the Sydney Olympics and despite a blistering pace set in the qualifying heat went on to take the silver medal just 0.8 seconds behind Great Britain.

Photo: Passing on some tips to Hale School rowers - 2017

SWIMMING

Todd Pearson OAM (1989-94)

Todd was a relay specialist at two Olympic Games. At Sydney 2000, he joined with Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim and William Kirby to shatter the world record when winning the gold medal in the 4 x 200 metres relay. In the 4 x 100 metres relay, Pearson and Adam Pine swam in the heats before Thorpe, Klim, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus shattered another world record in defeating the United States on the first evening of the swimming competition. Four years later at Athens 2004, Pearson finished sixth with the 4 x 100 metres relay squad and swam in the heats of the longer relay before Thorpe, Klim, Grant Hackett and Nicholas Sprenger claimed the silver medal behind the United States in the final. At the 2001 world championships, Pearson joined with Callus, Klim and Ian Thorpe to win the 4 x 100 metres relay and inflict the first loss on the United States in this event at the swimming world titles.

Photo: Todd (left) pictured with Nick Porzig

HOCKEY

Mark Hickman (1989-90)

Mark Hickman won a gold medal for Australia in men’s hockey in 2004.

From the Northern Territory, Mark shared goalkeeping duties with Stephen Mowlam. In winning gold, the Kookaburras finally ended Australia’s men’s hockey hoodoo at the Olympics. Since first competing in men’s hockey at the Games in 1956, Australia had won three silver medals, three bronze medals and been placed fourth twice. But the team’s fortunes changed in Athens. In the semi-final, the Kookaburras beat Spain 6-3 to reach the final, where it faced two-time defending champion, the Netherlands. With scores tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time, a goal by Jamie Dwyer in the eighth minute of extra time secured the famous victory.

BOBSLEIGH

Lucas Mata
(2001-05)

Lucas made his second Olympic appearance at the PyeongChang 2018 Games after making his Games debut in Sochi as a brakeman for Heath Spence in the men's 4-Man Bobsleigh crew. In 2018, Lucas piloted both the 2-man and 4-man crews to some solid results at the Alpensia Sliding Centre finishing in 22nd and 25th respectively. Mata finished 22nd in the 4man event in 2014.

A former sprinter at state level, Lucas was targeted for the Bobsleigh team and became a regular competitor in the men's 4-man team during the 2013/14 season with the crew’s best result being a bronze medal at the North America's Cup in Lake Placid in December, 2013. He had some top results in the 2017/2018 season leading into the Olympics, including a 5th place at the North American Cup (NAC) in Whistler in the 2man event with David Mari and an 8th place in the 4man NAC in Calgary, Canada.  

ATHLETICS

Sam McEntee (2005-09)

After running in the US college system with Villanova University (2011-2015), Sam returned to Australia where he had a strong 2016 domestic season running personal bests over 3000 and 5000 metres. In April, he defeated a strong field to win the national 5000 metres championships and only needed to add a qualifying performance to secure automatic selection for his first Olympic Games; which he achieved in May at Stanford running 13:20.72. 

In Rio, he placed 18th in his 5000m heat. He was suffering from plantar fasciitis.

"The race was tough going as I had pretty average training going in and I knew I wasn't going to be at my best but it was my first Olympics, so I don't think I was ready to set the world on fire. I tried to take in as much as I could of the experience - running next to Mo [Farah] thinking: 'he's the best. If you want to be as good as him it's going to take a lot."

TENNIS

Matthew Ebden
(2001-04)

Matthew Ebden is a professional tennis player who reached a career high of world number 1 in doubles. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and 2024 Australian Open in doubles with Max Purcell and Rohan Bopanna respectively, and the 2013 AustralianOpen in mixed doubles alongside Jarmila Gajdošová.

In 2024 he made his Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics.  He and partner John Peers won the Olympic gold medal against Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ramair in a nail biting close game. The first set decider went to the USA, 6-7 (6-8), then the second set to Australia, 7-6 (7-1), before the Aussie duo fed on their own momentum to secure the match with a 10-8 super tiebreaker.

“It was not looking good. We were losing the show. But we kept believing, kept fighting, kept hanging strong,” You don’t always get the reward for your hard work… But when you do it’s pretty sweet.”

The pair become the first Australian tennis champions at an Olympics since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde (known by law in Australia as “The Woodies”) won the same event in Atlanta back in 1996.

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