Conrad Anthony Francis (born 8 August 1981) is a Sri Lankan former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), a three-time swimmer at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

(2002, 2006, 2010), and a double gold medalist in the 50 and 100 m butterfly at the Asian Age Group Championships. Francis also became the first Sri Lankan to swim the same stroke under 56 seconds, when he competed at the 2004 FINA World Short Course Championships in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. Francis made his first Sri Lankan team 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he competed in the men's 100 m butterfly. Swimming in heat one, he picked up a fifth seed and fifty-eighth overall by 0.81 of a second behind Latvia's Artūrs Jakovļevs in 57.44. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Francis qualified again for the

100 m butterfly 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, by receiving a Universality place from FINA, in an invitation time of 56.36. He challenged seven other swimmers on the second heat, including fellow two-time Olympians Daniel O'Keeffe and Nicholas Rees of the Bahamas. He raced again to fifth place by a 1.93-second margin behind winner

Michal Rubáček Michal Rubáček (born 19 December 1986) is a Czech swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a multiple-time Czech national record holder for the butterfly events (50, 100, and 200 m). Rubacek made his first C ...

of the Czech Republic in 56.80. Francis failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed fifty-second overall in the preliminaries. Francis previously resided in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in sports development, management, and recreation at

Swinburne University of Technology Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access ...

. He also competed for Nunawading Swim Club under head coach

Leigh Nugent Leigh Nugent was an Australian swimming coach. He was the head coach of the Australian swimming team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.Geraldine Doogue (5 September 2004)Sunday Profile-Leigh Nugent ''ABC''" Under his leadership, Australia t ...

, who led his Australian swimming team at two Olympic Games before his resignation in 2013. Francis now coaches students at the Seoul Foreign School known as SFS.

References

External links

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Alumni Profile – Swinburne University of Technology
1981 births Living people Sri Lankan male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Sri Lanka Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Sri Lanka Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Male butterfly swimmers Swimmers from Colombo Swinburne University of Technology alumni Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia South Asian Games gold medalists for Sri Lanka South Asian Games silver medalists for Sri Lanka South Asian Games medalists in swimming {{SriLanka-swimming-bio-stub