Allan Murray (born 19 June 1972) is a Bahamian former swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, and 2000), and a top 16 finalist in the 50 m freestyle at his second Olympic appearance in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. While studying in the United States, Murray was a member of

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

swimming team under head coach Jack Bauerle.

Career

Early years

Born and raised in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Murray later emerged as the first Bahamian swimmer to reach a summit of worldwide swimming success. He started his sporting career as a resident athlete for the Swift Swim Club, and was trained by his longtime coach Andy Knowles, a former

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

swimmer. In 1991, Murray accepted on an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, where he majored in mathematics and played for the

swimming and diving team under head coach Jack Bauerle.

Olympic career

Murray made his worldwide debut as a member of the Bahamian squad at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona. He placed almost in the "middle-of-the-road" in any of his individual events, finishing twenty-first in the 50 m freestyle (23.35) and forty-third in the

100 m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

(52.43). At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Murray made a historic milestone for the Bahamas, as he became the first ever swimmer to reach an Olympic final. In the 50 m freestyle, Murray shared a twelfth-place tie with Brazil's top medal favorite

Gustavo Borges Gustavo França Borges (born December 2, 1972) is a Brazilian former competitive swimmer. He swam for Brazil in the Summer Olympic Games in: 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. Borges has won the second-most Olympic medals of any Brazilian, with fouron ...

, finishing in a joint time of 22.92. Murray swam for his third time in the 50 m freestyle at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. He posted a

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

B-standard of 23.11 from the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He challenged seven other swimmers in heat five, including Uzbekistan's top favorite

Ravil Nachaev Ravil Nachaev (also ''Ravil Nagayev'', rus, Равиль Начаев; born June 17, 1974 in Tashkent) is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), and ...

. Unable to keep himself in good form, Murray came up short in second place by 0.22 of a second behind Nachaev in 23.34. Murray failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed thirty-seventh overall in the prelims. Shortly after his third Olympics, Murray retired from swimming to work as an assistant coach for the Bahamas Swimming Federation.

Personal bests

References

External links