Kieren John Perkins, OAM (born 14 August 1973) is a former Australian

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Lab ...

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 ...

. He specialised in the 1500-metre freestyle and won successive Olympic gold medals in this event in the 1990s. He won his first at the 1992 Olympics which he won in world record time and then at the

1996 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, ...

when he defended his title. In total he won four Olympic medals.

Early life

Perkins was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Queensland. He attended Indooroopilly State Primary School and graduated from Brisbane Boys' College in the inner city suburb of

Toowong Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people. Geography Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills ...

. He began swimming regularly at age eight as part of his rehabilitation from a serious leg injury incurred after running through a plate glass window. At age 13 his potential became obvious, and with coach John Carew guiding him he won his first medal at the Australian Championships in Melbourne in 1989.

Early international career (1990–1992)

1990 Commonwealth Games

Perkins's first major international meet was the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

in Auckland, New Zealand. Perkins won the silver medal in the 1500 metre freestyle behind fellow Queenslander

Glen Housman Glen Clifford Housman (born 3 September 1971) is an Australian former distance freestyle swimmer of the 1980s and 1990s, who won the silver medal in the 1500-metre freestyle, swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics. His career was overshadowed by ...

. Both Housman (14:55.25) and Perkins (14:58.08) broke 15 minutes which was the first time Perkins had recorded a sub-fifteen-minute 1500 metres.

1991 World Championships

There was much expectation around Perkins at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships in Perth in the 1500 m freestyle, but he was beaten in the final by just 0.22 seconds by German Jörg Hoffmann who set a new world-record time. Perkins swam 14:50.58 which was also far under the previous world record.

1992 Olympic Games

Perkins was favorite for the men's 1500-metre freestyle 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, Spain. The fastest qualifier for the final, Perkins broke his own world record by 5 seconds to 14:43.48. This was the only gold medal won by an Australian swimmer at these Games. Earlier in the meet, Perkins finished second in the 400 m final. Russian

Yevgeny Sadovyi Yevgeny Viktorovich Sadovyi (russian: Евгений Викторович Садовый; born 19 January 1973) is a retired Russian freestyle swimmer who won three gold medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona and was subsequently chos ...

representing the Unified Team won the race in a world record time. Perkins also broke the world record as he finished 0.16 behind. Perkins was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

Peak international career (1993–1996)

1994 Commonwealth Games

At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Perkins won four gold medals in the 200 m, 400 m, 1500 m and 4 x 200 m freestyle relay all in world record time.

1994 World Championships

Two weeks after the Commonwealth Games, Perkins competed in the 1994 World Aquatics Championships in Rome. He won two gold medals in the 400 m and 1500 m, the 400 m in World Record time. His 400 m and 1500 m world records made that year stood until 1999 and 2001 respectively, broken by fellow Australians

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

and

Grant Hackett Grant George Hackett OAM (born 9 May 1980) is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to ...

. His performances in that year earned him the Male World Swimmer of the Year award from ''Swimming World'' magazine. He later described the Olympic Pool in Rome as his favourite pool.

1996 Olympic Games

At the time of 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, ...

in Atlanta, Perkins was out of form and long-time Australian rival

Daniel Kowalski Daniel Steven Kowalski (born 2 July 1975) is an Australian former middle- and long-distance swimmer specialising in freestyle events. He competed in the Olympic Games in 200-, 400- and 1,500-metre individual freestyle events and in the 4 × ...

was regarded as the favourite. In fact his form was so poor that he almost failed to make the Australian team. Perkins qualified for the 1500-metre freestyle final by a mere 0.24 seconds to be the slowest of the top 8 qualifiers, and it was later revealed that before the race he felt unwell and considered not swimming. From lane eight, Perkins dominated the race being the only swimmer to go under 15 minutes (14:56.40), again relegating Kowalski, who had to fight all the way and just held off Graeme Smith. Perkins became just the third swimmer to win consecutive gold medals in this event. He became the only Australian since Dawn Fraser to defend an individual Olympic championship successfully in Olympics held outside Australia.

Era of Dominance Over (1998–2000)

1998 Commonwealth Games

Perkins carried the flag at the opening ceremony for the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur. In the 1500 m freestyle, he won bronze behind 18 year old heir apparent

and

Ryk Neethling Ryk Neethling OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as the three-times World Champion and four-times World Record Breaking Olympic swimming champion. He is known as one of the most accomplished swim ...

2000 Olympic Games

Perkins was in Monte Carlo in 1993 the night Sydney won the right to host the games and managed to qualify for his 3rd Olympic Games. Despite being just 27, he was now the elder statesman of the team. It was a reverse of four years earlier where Perkins was the fastest qualifier heading into the final, but Grant Hackett won gold with Perkins winning silver. Perkins joined

Frank Beaurepaire Sir Francis Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire (13 May 1891 – 29 May 1956) was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the ...

as one of two swimmers to win three medals in this event.

Legacy

With the nickname of ''Super Fish'', Perkins retired from swimming in 2000 having amassed 23 medals at international competitions. He set 11 world records, holding the 1500 m freestyle record for nine years, the 800 m for ten years and the 400 m freestyle for five years. He is the first person in history to hold the Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific titles simultaneously. He broke over 40 Australian records during a career spanning from 1989 to 2000. Perkins won two of the 16 gold medals Australia won at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He was one of 6 Australians to win gold medals at both of these Games. Perkins won 2 of the 3 swimming gold Australia won during this time. There was a mythology in Australia with the 1500 m freestyle that Perkins revived and brought into modern times. Australian swimmers won Olympic gold in the 1500 m from 1956 to 1964 but nothing for 28 years until Perkins broke the drought. Australia has won the event more times than any other nation.

Honours

In the Australia Day Honours of 1992, Perkins was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Awards

Perkins was named 1992 Young Australian of the Year. Also named an Australian Living Treasure, he was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser t ...

in 2002. In 2009 Perkins was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. Also in 2009 as part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia. Q ...

celebrations, Kieren Perkins was announced as one of the

Q150 Icons The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland's first 150 years ...

of Queensland for his role as a "sports legend". Perkins was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Post swimming career

Since his retirement, he has occasionally worked in the broadcast media. He joined

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

in 2009. Perkins was part of the team that conducted a review of the Australian swimming team at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In November 2020, Perkins was appointed as President of

Swimming Australia Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...

. He was a director of the Starlight Foundation. On 17 December 2021, Perkins was named the new CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, overseeing

Sport Australia The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

and the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

Personal life

Perkins married in 1997 and has three children, Harry, Georgia and Charlie, with ex-wife Symantha. In June 2012 Perkins announced he and Symantha had separated. In October 2014, Perkins married Karen Davis in

Positano Positano (Campanian: ) is a village and '' comune'' on the Amalfi Coast ( Province of Salerno), in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast. Climate The climate of Positano is very mild, of the Mediterrane ...

, Italy.

References

External links

Kieren Perkins's Complete Biography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Kieren 1973 births Living people Swimmers from Brisbane People educated at Brisbane Boys' College Olympic swimmers of Australia Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Australian Swimmers of the Year World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Australian male freestyle swimmers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian people