Graeme Thomas Brewer (born 1 December 1958) is an Australian former freestyle

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

of the late 1970s and early 1980s who won a bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. In all he won 13 Australian titles. A native of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Brewer attended

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...

, graduating in 1976. He first gained attention in the

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, inc ...

world when he won consecutive Australian junior ironman championships in 1976 and 1977, competing for the

Tamarama Tamarama is a beachside suburb, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tamarama is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. Tamarama has a small ...

club from Sydney's eastern suburbs. Switching to competition in the pool, Brewer gained prominence at Canada's

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

in Edmonton, winning a silver medal in the 200-metre freestyle and one of each colour in the three relays. In Moscow, Brewer claimed a bronze medal behind the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

pair of

Sergey Kopliakov Sergey Viktorovich Koplyakov (russian: Сергей Викторович Копляков; born 23 January 1959) is a Russian-Belarusian swimmer who won two gold medals competing for the Soviet Union at the 1980 Summer Olympics. ...

and Andrei Krylov. He came eighth in the 100-metre freestyle and seventh in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay along with

Mark Tonelli Mark Lyndon Tonelli (born 13 April 1957), whose birth name was Mark Lyndon Leembruggen, is an Australian former backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the 1980 ...

Mark Kerry Mark Anthony Kerry (born 4 August 1959) is an Australian former 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 Summer Olympics ...

and

Neil Brooks Neil Brooks (born 27 July 1962) is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the '' Quietly Confident Quartet''. Brooks was as m ...

. He narrowly missed the final of the 400-metre freestyle. Brewer was best known for being a member of the so-called "Mean Machine" competing at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

in Brisbane, when he combined with

Greg Fasala Gregory John Fasala (born 10 May 1965) is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1980s, who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Coming from Victoria, Fasala was best ...

and

Michael Delany Michael William Delany (born 22 August 1965) is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1980s, who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Delany was best known for being ...

to claim gold in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay, gaining their nickname after collectively shaving their heads for the race. He also won a gold in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay. He competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay, coming fourth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Graeme 1958 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Australia Australian male freestyle swimmers Swimmers from Sydney Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian people Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games

See also

References