Duncan Armstrong
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| Full name | Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |
 Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
7 April 1968 Rockhampton, Queensland | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stroke(s) | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Western Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Florida | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong, OAM, (born 7 April 1968) is a former Australian freestyle swimmer and Olympic medalist, who won a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Biography
Armstrong was born in the Queensland city of Rockhampton, and attended the selective Brisbane State High School. He was coached by the flamboyant Laurie Lawrence, and made his debut in the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he won gold in the 400-metre freestyle and the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. However, the Australian selectors controversially rested him from the 200-metre event.
Armstrong arrived in Seoul as a rank outsider, facing the trio of past and current world record holders in the 200-metre event, Matt Biondi of the United States, Artur Wojdat of Poland and Michael Gross of West Germany. As a back-end swimmer, Lawrence devised a plan for Armstrong to swim as close to Biondi in the adjacent lane as possible, benefiting from Biondi's wake. It worked, with Armstrong storming home in the last fifty metres to claim gold with a world record time of 1 minute 47.25 seconds.
Later in the 400-metre, Armstrong was once again slow out of the blocks, turning last at the 100-metre mark, and still being second last at the 300-metre mark. However he stormed home, and in a photo finish, claimed the silver medal behind East Germany's Uwe Dassler. He had carved more than five seconds off his previous personal best. For his efforts, Armstrong was awarded the Young Australian of the Year award for 1988.[1]
Armstrong attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach Randy Reese's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition in 1988 and 1989. He was named an All-American in the 400-metre and 800-metre freestyle in 1989.[2]
Armstrong was again the favourite as the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland approached in 1990. However, a bout of glandular fever forced him to withdraw. He proceeded to compete at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but was a shadow of his former self. He retired from competitive swimming after the Games. In June 1998, at the age of 30, he announced that he would come out of retirement and commence training for the 200-metre freestyle for the 2000 Summer Olympics, as Australia had won the 4×200-metre freestyle event in that year's World Championships, and were expected to win in Sydney, with the likes of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Michael Klim. However, after two months of training, Armstrong announced that he would abandon his comeback and retire again. Australia proceeded to win the gold in the relay event by over five seconds.
Armstrong is currently a swimming commentator on Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports and is also a well-known swimming safety advocate. He has also coached young people, and is a current ambassador for Centrum multivitamins and Cardiotech fitness equipment.
Honours and awards
- Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to swimming (1989)[3]
- Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee (1993)[4]
- International Swimming Hall of Fame "Honor Swimmer" (1996)[5]
- Australian Sports Medal (2000)[6]
- Centenary Medal for service to Australian society through the sport of swimming (2001)[7]
- Induction into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame (2009)[8]
See also
- Florida Gators
- List of Australian Olympic medalists in swimming
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
- List of University of Florida alumni
- List of University of Florida Olympians
- World record progression 200 metres freestyle
References
- ↑ "Duncan Armstrong". Australia Day National Network. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ University of Florida Swimming & Diving 2008–2009 Media Guide, Gator History & Records, Gator All-Americans By Year, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 92 (2008).
- ↑ "Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong OAM". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ↑ "Duncan Armstrong OAM". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees, Duncan Armstrong (AUS). Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ↑ "Duncan John Armstrong". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ↑ "Duncan John Armstrong". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ↑ "Mr Duncan Armstrong OAM". Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. qsport.org.au. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
Bibliography
- Andrews, Malcolm (2000). Australia at the Olympic Games. New South Wales: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. pp. 13–14. ISBN 0-7333-0884-8.
External links
- Duncan Armstrong – Olympic athlete profile at Sports-Reference.com
- Duncan Armstrong (AUS) – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame
- Duncan Armstrong at the Internet Movie Database
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