Escaping worn torn Europe as a 6 year old John Konrads would emerge by 1958 as a swimming sensation and within 5 years set an astounding 14 world records.
By the time his international career finally ended in 1964 Konrads had won 1 Olympic gold medal and 2 bronze and 3 Commonwealth Games gold medals set 26 individual world records and helped set 6 relay world records.
- Status: Pending1971Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame at Fort Lauderdale,USA.
- Status: Pending1985Inducted into -Sport Australia' Hall of Fame.
Beginnings
The Konrads family arrived in 1949 on an immigrant ship via Germany after fleeing Soviet-controlled Latvia. The family was placed at Greta migrant camp, near Maitland NSW, before being relocated to Uranquinty. It was there, that John contracted a mild case of polio and was encouraged to swim as a method of rehabilitation.
Achievements
John's record breaking best began in 1958, the year John won three gold medals at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. He also won the Japanese and French National Championships in 400m and 1500m, and later held the American NCAA titles for 500yds and 1650yds.
In 1959 John won all five Australian freestyle championships from 100 metres to 1500 metres, and was selected to complete for Australia in the Olympic Games in Rome the following year where he took home a Gold medal and two Bronze.
Post Representation
Konrads went on to be General Marketing Manager for Ansett in the lead up to airline deregulation. Returning to the Olympic City of Sydney in 1996, he consulted in marketing, sports venue development and executive coaching. As an indication of his stature in the Olympic family, John was the bilingual Master of Ceremonies for the 111th session of the International Olympic Committee during the Sydney Olympics.