Andrew James Duncan Laing (20 June 1933 – 13 September 2008), generally known as Duncan Laing, was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

coach based in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. He coached Olympian

Danyon Loader Danyon Joseph Loader (born 21 April 1975) is an Olympic champion, former world record holder swimmer from New Zealand, based in Dunedin. He remains the national record holder in the 400 metre freestyle short course. He swam for New Zealand a ...

, winner of two gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a silver medal at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in 1992, and Philip Rush, current world record holder for the fastest two and three way swim of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. He began teaching at Moana Pool in 1966, and over forty years training in Dunedin included 11 Olympic athletes. In 2003,

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

visited New Zealand to train under Laing. He had since retired from professional coaching, and received treatment in 2006 for melanoma on his leg and a brain tumour. He married

Betty Burgess Betty Burgess (February 15, 1917 – 2002) was a singer, dancer, and actress in the United States. She married Duncan Laing in 1951 and then George Zaharias in January 1960. She co-starred in the 1935 film '' Coronado'' and the 1938 film '' I Dema ...

in 1951, and they had six children, four sons and two daughters (one deceased).Obituary in ''Dominion Post'' 18 September 2008 page B3 Besides coaching he was an Otago rugby selector in the 1980s, and ran the Moana House rehabilitation centre with his wife. Laing was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours, and a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to sport, in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was born in New Plymouth on 20 June 1933 and died in Dunedin on 13 September 2008 at the age of 77. One of the pools within the Moana Pool complex was renamed the Duncan Laing Pool in November 2010 in his honour.

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* 1933 births 2008 deaths New Zealand male swimmers New Zealand swimming coaches Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Dunedin Sportspeople from New Plymouth 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people {{NewZealand-swimming-bio-stub