Peter Reynolds

Peter Askin Reynolds (born 2 January 1948) 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. Although he set multiple world records, Reynolds peaked between Olympics and was unable to capture an individual medal at Olympic level.

Making his international debut at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Reynolds reached the final of the 200m backstroke, where he finished last to American Jed Graef, who won in a world record time. He combined with Ian O'Brien, Kevin Berry and David Dickson to claim bronze in the 4x100m medley relay, behind the United States and Germany.

At the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, Reynolds was one of the dominant swimmers, winning four gold medals, three of them individually. He collected gold in the 110yd and 220yd backstroke and the 400yd individual medley, beating Canadian Ralph Hutton, setting world records in the latter two events.

Reynolds then combined with Dickson, Michael Wenden and Bob Windle to set a world record in the 4x220yd freestyle. Another gold in the 4x110yd medley relay was lost after Reynolds, O'Brien, Wenden and Graham Dunn were disqualified after a careless early changeover; they had touched the wall far in front of the rest of the field.

This was Reynolds' final appearance on the international scene. Although he increased his tally of Australian Championships to 14 the following year, he failed to gain selection for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

References

• Andrews, Malcolm (2000). Australia at the Olympic Games. Sydney, New South Wales: ABC Books. p. 360. ISBN 0-7333-0884-8.