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Mark Kerry

Personal information
Full name	Marcus Kerry
Nationality	Australia
Stroke(s)	backstroke, freestyle
College team	University of Indiana University of Southern California
Date of birth	August 4, 1959 (1959-08-04) (age 50)
Place of birth	Temora, New South Wales
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	80 kilograms (180 lb)
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for  Australia Olympic Games Gold 1980 Moscow 4 × 100 m Bronze 1980 Moscow 200 m backstroke Bronze 1984 Los Angeles 4 × 100 m Summer Universiade Gold 1979 Mexico City 100 m backstroke

Mark Kerry (born August 4, 1959) is a former Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the backstroker for 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 as a teenager. His swimming career progressed to senior Australian standards 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 m freestyle and backstroke events to win selection for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal at the age of 16. At the Olympics, Kerry reached the final in two events, coming seventh and fifth in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke respectively. Kerry was disappointed with his performances, but they attracted the attention of American coach Doc Counsilman, who invited Kerry to swim under him at the University of Indiana. 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 breaking a curfew.

Kerry returned to Australia in 1980 for the national championships and gained selection the Moscow Olympics by winning the backstroke double. Kerry declined financial inducements and resisted political pressure from the government of Australia to boycott the Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He went on to win 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. The race remains the only time that the United States did not win the event at the Olympics. After the games, Kerry took an extended break from the sport, before returning for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He claimed a bronze in 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.

Early years

The beaches of Wollongong, where Kerry grew up and raced

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 aquatic school. Kerry was taught to swim by his mother, whom he regarded as a perfectionist who emphasised technique and 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. He found the surf much more exciting due to the unpredictability of the water. Kerry steadily rose through the surf lifesaving ranks, competing at the state championships. In 1974, Kerry won the Cadet Malibu event in the Australian Championships, and in 1975 he was second in the surf race at the Australian Open Surfing Championships. In the pool, Kerry had his first competitive race at the age of 12 in 1971. At the time, Brad Cooper—who went on to win the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics—was living in Wollongong and they trained together on a regular basis. In 1974, Kerry competed in the Australian Age Championships in freestyle. In 1975, he moved north to Queensland to train with John Rigby in Brisbane. At the time of his move, Kerry was ranked around 200th in the world in backstroke.^[2]

International debut: 1976 Olympics

The Olympic pool in Montreal, where Kerry competed in 1976.

Kerry had improved to such an extent that by November 1975, his times in the 200 m backstroke had dropped from around 2 m 10 s to around 2 m 3.0 s, ranking him third in the world. As a result of his strong performances in the pool, Kerry retired from surf racing. Kerry made his debut at the 1976 Australian Championships, winning the 200 m freestyle and backstroke events in 1 m 54.33 s and 2 m 3.58 s respectively, as well as the 4 × 200 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m medley relays for New South Wales, leading off both relays. Aged 16, Kerry won selection for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke, the 200 m freestyle, the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and the 4 × 100 m medley relay.^[2]

Kerry was second in his heat of the 200 m freestyle heat in a time of 1 m 54.86 s, but was four seconds off the pace and did not qualify for the final. His time was 2.08 s behind the slowest qualifier, placing him 16th.^[3] Kerry did not get to swim in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. The fastest Australian in the corresponding individual event, he was rested in the qualifying round; Australia came third in their heat and ninth overall to miss the final by 1.88 s after Peter Dawson swam his split in a time four seconds slower than Kerry's effort in the individual event. Had Kerry repeated his individual time in the relay in place of Dawson, Australia would have qualified fifth.^[4]

Kerry found more success in the 100 m backstroke, winning his heat in 57.99 s to qualify third fastest for the semifinals. He then scraped into the final as the second slowest qualifier, after coming fourth in his semifinal in a time of 58.04 s. His time of 57.94 s placed him seventh in the final, ahead of fellow Australian Mark Tonelli, but more than two seconds behind the victorious John Naber of the United States.^[2][5] In the 200 m event, Kerry put in a personal best time of 2 m 3.58 s in the first heat to qualify fourth fastest for the final, but swam slower in the decider to finish fifth in a time of 2 m 4.07 s, one place behind Tonelli and 2.72 s away from bronze.^[6] Kerry combined with Paul Jarvie, Neil Rogers and Peter Coughlan in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, placing sixth.^[7] The quartet qualified in sixth place, and Kerry had them in fourth place after posting a time of 57.94 s in the first leg, but his teammates were unable to keep up with the leaders and finished more than four seconds out of medal contention.^[8]

Kerry was disappointed with his performances, feeling that he had failed to perform to his potential amid the pressure and excitement of an Olympics. However, he felt that his experience of racing against the likes of 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.^[7] Kerry successfully defended his 200 m backstroke national title in 1977, but the time was more than four seconds slower than his effort in the previous year. He combined with his New South Wales teammates to win all three relays, again in times substantially slower than in the preceding Olympic year. The performances earned him selection for the Australian team for the Coca Cola Meet in London, but Kerry felt that he lacked motivation after the Olympics. Upon returning, he decided to absent himself from such events.^[7]

US college stint and expulsion for disciplinary issues

The swimming pool at the University of Southern California, where Kerry trained.

In January 1978, Kerry arrived at Indiana University, studying Theatre, Drama and Telecommunications. Based on the times that he recorded for Indiana, Kerry was named in the Australian squad for the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.^[7] However, his international career appeared to be in disarray when along with two teammates, Mark Tonelli and Joe Dixon, he was expelled from the Australian team for breaking a curfew on American Independence Day at a training camp in Honolulu, Hawaii.^{[9][10][11][12]} Kerry returned to Indiana and continued his training. He competed at the 1979 US National Championships at Fort Lauderdale, setting 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, whom he felt was losing focus and becoming 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 Naber's mentor Peter Kaland.^[7]

1980 Olympics

Kerry returned home to compete in the 1980 Australian Championships, winning both backstroke events, albeit in a slower time than his Australian records. Kerry added two titles as a member of the 4 × 100 m medley and freestyle relay teams for New South Wales. This earned Kerry his second trip to the Olympics, this time in Moscow.^[13] 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.^[9][14] Kerry was equally adamant that he was going to compete, unlike some other swimmers who made personal boycotts. He received offers from Australian government officials to boycott the Games in return for 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?^[13]

Upon leaving the US for the Olympics, Kerry was threatened with the cancellation of his US visa.^[15] 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.^[13] 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. He was the ninth fastest in the closely-run semifinals, with the third fastest qualifier being only 0.18 s faster.^[16] Patching missed the final after slipping on the starting wall in his race, while Tonelli went on to finish seventh.^[13] Had Kerry matched his personal best of 65.50 s, he would have won the gold medal ahead of Sweden's Bengt Baron.^[16]

Kerry bounced back in the 200 m backstroke and won his heat to qualify third-fastest,^[17] before claiming bronze in a time of 2 m 3.14 s behind the Hungarian duo of Sandor Wladar and Zoltan Verraszto.^[11] He edged out the Soviet Union's Vladimir Shemetov by 0.34 s, becoming the first Australian to win a medal in an individual backstroke event since David Theile in 1960.^[13][17] In the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, he combined with Tonelli, Graeme Brewer and Ron McKeon as Australia came seventh after qualifying fourth.^[13] The Australians were sixth at the halfway point when Kerry jumped in for the third leg. Kerry moved Australia into fifth by the end of his leg, just 0.78 s from the bronze medal position, after posting a split time of 1 m 52.64 s, the 18th fastest split in the race. However, McKeon could not keep pace with the opposition anchor swimmers, and Australia finished seventh, 1.52 s outside the medals.^[18]

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.^[19] Australia's team paled in comparison on paper. Neil Brooks, the freestyler, had come seventh after having an asthma attack,^[20] and Peter Evans was the only individual medallist in the distance, claiming bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.^[21] 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.^[13][14] 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.^[22] Coming into the Olympics, Australia were ranked seventh out of the 13 competing countries.^[23]

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.^[1][14]

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.^[24] 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.^[24] 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.^[20] 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][10][14]

Break and comeback

After the Olympics, Kerry took a break from competitive swimming. He was asked to return for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, so he made a comeback, but put in only two weeks of solid training and missed selection, failing to win either of the backstroke events. In 1983, he began preparing 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 after long sabbaticals. He attributed this to his technique and ability to keep his 190 cm, 80 kg body in shape while not training.^[13]

He returned to Australia in 1984 and after training in Brisbane, he qualified for the team for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles despite winning neither backstroke event at the Australian Championships. Arriving in the United States, Kerry was slated to compete in the 100 m backstroke and 4 × 100 m medley relay.^[13] Kerry swam quickly to win his heat in the 100 m in a time of 57.15 s, qualifying third fastest for the final. However, he was unable to improve in the final, finishing fifth in a time of 57.18 s, 0.69 s from the bronze medal.^[25] In the medley relay, Kerry and Evans joined Glenn Buchanan and Mark Stockwell, who swam the butterfly and freestyle respectively. They were no match for the American team, who had three of the four gold medallists in the corresponding individual events and finished almost four seconds ahead. Kerry had Australia in third place at the first change, finishing in a time of 57.12 s, with the Americans already 1.71 s ahead. Australia remained third at every change and were relegated to bronze by the second-placed Canadians by just 0.02 s.^{[11][13][26][27]}

After the Games, Kerry retired from competitive swimming career and worked in Los Angeles as a male model and hosted a cable television fashion show.^[13] According to Tonelli, Kerry's mother told her son to "look after that face, [because] that's all you've got".^[28] Tonelli disagreed, opining that "he was always much more than that".^[28] Tonelli reported that Kerry was busy preening himself just before the start of their Olympic-winning relay performance, claiming that although Australia was unlikely to swim, he needed to look good because a prospective employer might be watching. Kerry went on to grace the catwalks of Milan and Paris.^[29]

Kerry married his American wife Lynda, and they split their time between Australia and the United States. Along with his brother, Kerry went on to found Dunhill Management, one of Australia's largest recruiting firms.^[13]

Notes

References

• Andrews, Malcolm (2000). Australia at the Olympic Games. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ISBN 0-7333-0884-8. 
• Forrest, Lisa (2008). Boycott. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ISBN 978-0-7333-2295-2. 
• 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. 
• Tonelli, Mark (2006). 2/10ths of a second: swimming through turbulence. http://www.marktonelli.com/production/marktonelli/assets/downloads/mark_tonelli_book.pdf.