Josh Watson

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Olympic medal record
Men's swimming
Silver	2000 Sydney	4x100 m medley relay

Josh Watson (born July 31, 1977 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian backstroke swimmer, who won a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Training at the Kingscliff club near the Queensland border, and coached by Greg Salter, Watson became Australian champion in the 50m backstroke in 1996. However, as it was not an Olympic event, he did not gain national selection until 1997, when he competed at the World Shortcourse Championships in Gothenburg ,Sweden. In 1998, he made his international long-course debut at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where he won a silver medal in the 100m backstroke and a gold medal in the medley relay. He also won bronze in the 100m backstroke at the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Watson swum the backstroke leg in the heats of the 4x100m medley relay, before being replaced by Matt Welsh in the team that trailed the United States home in the final. Watson was also a finalist in the 100m backstroke, where he was narrowly beaten into fourth place. Watson continued to be selected in the same role (except for a self-imposed break in 2002) until the 2004 Athens Olympics, when he failed to qualify for the semifinals of the 100m backstroke. This enabled him to collect a gold medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

[edit] External link

• Swimming Australia profile for Josh Watson