Mark Lyndon Tonelli (born 13 April 1957), whose birth name was Mark Lyndon Leembruggen, is an Australian former
backstroke,
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
, and
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 La ...
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 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the
1980 Moscow 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 ...
as a makeshift butterfly swimmer in the self-named ''
Quietly Confident Quartet
The Quietly Confident Quartet was the self-given name of the Australian men's 4 × 100 metres medley relay swimming team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The United States boycotted the Moscow Olymp ...
''. Tonelli unofficially led the relay team and was an athletes' spokesperson who fought for the right of Australian Olympians to compete in the face of a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
call for a boycott to protest against the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
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 ...
.
Tonelli took up swimming due to his asthma, and quickly came to prominence. Selected to represent Australia at the
1973 World Championships, he came sixth in the 200 m backstroke at the age of 16. He won his first Australian titles in 1974 in the 100 m backstroke and 200 m butterfly and went on to the
1974 Commonwealth Games
The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...
in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, where he won his first major international race, the 100 m backstroke, and took silver in the 200 m backstroke. In 1975, Tonelli won his only individual medal at global level, a silver in the 200 m backstroke at the
World Championships in
Cali
Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
, Colombia. In 1975, Tonelli enrolled at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
in the United States, studying and competing in the collegiate sport system. He was selected in both backstroke events for the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, but struggled and missed the medals in both events. During his stay in America, Tonelli set times that would have placed him among the world's leading swimmers, but he was expelled from the
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 ...
team for breaches of discipline.
After finishing his American university career, Tonelli returned to Australia and gained selection for his second Olympics. Having cleared the political obstacles, Tonelli was given a heavy schedule of six events: both backstroke races, the 100 m freestyle and butterfly, and two relays. He made little impact in the individual events, only reaching one final. Australia lacked butterfly swimmers and Tonelli was versatile, so he swum the stroke in the medley relay. He performed above his previous record, posting a time fast enough to win silver in the corresponding individual event and helping Australia to an unexpected win. Upon returning to Australia, Tonelli retired with eleven individual Australian championships in three different strokes.
Early years
Tonelli was born Mark Lyndon Leembruggen into a working-class family in
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich pre ...
. His father Lyndon was a
blue-collar worker
A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...
of
Dutch origin and his
Irish mother Muriel worked in the
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
Department of Industrial Relations.
Muriel was pregnant with twins, but miscarried one of the babies and gave birth only to Mark. The family moved to the northern outback mining town of
Mount Isa, where Lyndon worked as a miner. There, Muriel left her husband and married Renato "Ray" Tonelli, an
Italian immigrant
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
labourer. Still a toddler, Tonelli and his stepfather left the town and returned to Brisbane. He adopted his stepfather's surname, but did not officially change his name until he was 18.
Tonelli was effectively an only child; his half-sister was not born until he was 14.
A decade later, he discovered two half-sisters from his biological father's remarriage. His family moved around frequently due to his stepfather's work, before settling permanently in Brisbane.
[Howell, p. 238.] Tonelli's family had no history of athletic success, and had little knowledge of swimming, but his mother encouraged him to take up the sport to ease his
asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
. In his first year, Tonelli came third in his age group at Western Districts Club, prompting his mother to send him at age nine to John Keating—a swimming coach who had guided several swimmers to national selection–at the Centenary Pool in the hope that he could improve to Olympic standards.
Tonelli said the reality was that he could hardly swim at all. By the age of 10, Tonelli was regularly winning at school carnivals and at 11, came seventh in the 100 m freestyle in his division at the Queensland Championships, before winning the event the following year.
Tonelli rates his win over
Stephen Holland
Stephen Roy Holland, OAM (born 31 May 1958) is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In a brief and spectacular career, he broke 12 world r ...
,
[ the future 1500 m freestyle world champion and world record holder,][ in a 200 m freestyle race at a schoolboys' carnival as his favourite race.][Tonelli, p. 36.] Holland was to break his first world record just a few months later.[Andrews, pp. 212–213.]
Keating motivated Tonelli by showing him the best times recorded by American boys of the same age, as documented in ''Swimming World Magazine''. Unaware that the Americans were swimming in 50 yd pools, roughly 10% shorter than those in Australia, Tonelli could not understand his inability to match and better their times. He said that his greatest motivation was the desire to impress his parents.
National and international debut
In 1973, at the age of 15, Tonelli competed in his first Australian Age Championships in Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
, winning the 100 m and 200 m freestyle, and the 200 m backstroke. These results allowed him to swim at the preliminary qualifying trials for the 1973 World Aquatics Championships
The 1st FINA World Championships in Aquatics were held in the Tašmajdan Sports Centre in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia, from 31 August to 9 September 1973.
Medal table
Results
Diving
;Men
;Women
Swimming
;Men
;Women
Synchroni ...
, where he managed four fourth placings. However, the selectors held another set of trials just before the World Championships, which offered swimmers a final chance to gain selection. Tonelli said "Everyone, except me, knew it was a ploy simply to keep the team on its toes".[Tonelli, p. 39.]
Upon returning to Brisbane after the first round of trials, Tonelli tore rib cartilage while participating in judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
at high school. The pain of the injury restricted him to swimming backstroke for four months, and his times steadily improved during this period under the guidance of John Rigby at the Valley Pool. At the final selection event, he came second in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke behind Olympic gold medallist Brad Cooper
__NOTOC__
Bradford Paul Cooper (born 19 July 1954) is an Australian former freestyle and backstroke swimmer of the 1970s, who won a gold medal in the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In that race he originally finished second by t ...
to earn his international debut. At the World Championships in Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, he came sixth in the 200 m backstroke behind East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
's Roland Matthes, who set a world record. Tonelli self-deprecatingly noted that "I didn't get to see him atthesswim in the final, because I was in the same race five sets of speedos behind".
Tonelli won his first Australian titles in 1974, claiming both the 100 m backstroke and 200 m butterfly; it was his first race in the latter stroke at senior national level. He completed the victories in times of 59.55 s and 2 m 7.30 s respectively. Tonelli also claimed victory as part of the Queensland teams in the 4 × 200 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m medley relays—it was the first time that Queensland had won the former race. In total, Tonelli had claimed gold medals in three different strokes at his first Australian Championships.
Commonwealth gold
Tonelli was selected for the 1974 Commonwealth Games
The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...
in Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, New Zealand, where he had his first medal success at international level. He won gold in the 100 m backstroke, where he won his heat comfortably before setting a Games record of 59.65 s in the final. Tonelli was second behind Cooper in the 200 m backstroke, finishing in a time of 2 m 9.47 s, more than three seconds in arrears.[Howell, p. 240.] He claimed a silver in the 4 × 100 m medley relay as Australia were thwarted by Canada despite setting a national record, and was eliminated in the heats of the 200 m butterfly.
In 1975, Tonelli won the 100 m backstroke, 200 m backstroke and 200 m butterfly events at the Australian Championships. Although he won more individual titles than in the previous year, his times were slower; he completed the distances in 59.70 s, 2 m 10.50 s and 2 m 10.00 s respectively. Tonelli was also part of the Queensland team that successfully defended their medley relay title. Tonelli was thus selected for the 1975 World Championships in Cali
Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
, Colombia. He qualified fastest for the 200 m backstroke final and had planned to pursue an aggressive strategy to attack from the start. However, he was advised to swim conservatively in the first half of the race by Australian coach Terry Gathercole
Terrence Stephen Gathercole (25 November 1935 – 30 May 2001), was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100-metre medley relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He later became a swimming c ...
so that his main rivals Matthes and John Naber would not be able to draft behind him in the early stages. The tactic backfired and Tonelli ended with the silver medal. He had swum faster in the second half of the race—something exceedingly rare in top-level swimming and an indication of strategic error—and felt that he had too much unused energy left at the end of the race. Tonelli vowed that from then on, he would always back his judgment and race strategy.
1976 Olympics and move to US college system
After the World Championships, Tonelli accepted a swimming scholarship from the University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
to train under John Gambril, having rejected offers from Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
and Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. Tonelli was almost killed before ever swimming for the university, suffering a mid-air parachute malfunction during an activity with the campus skydiving club. Tonelli eventually completed a BA in Communications and Film.
After enrolling at Alabama, Tonelli's parents paid for him to return home for the 1976 Australian Championships, which were the selection trials for the 1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Quebec, Canada. Tonelli won the 100 m backstroke in a time of 58.35 s but was relegated to silver in the 200 m event by 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 ...
. Along with Kerry, Tonelli was selected for both backstroke events and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay.
In Montreal, Tonelli came eighth fastest in every round of the 100 m backstroke. He came second in his heat in a time of 58.53 s, making him the eighth of sixteen qualifiers for the semifinals. He then scraped into the 100 m final as the slowest qualifier—0.01 s ahead of fellow Australian Glenn Patching
Glenn Scott Patching (born 12 April 1958) was an Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won the gold medal in the men's 100-metre backstroke event at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He represented his native cou ...
—after finishing fourth in his semifinal in a time of 58.14 s. He came eighth in the final in a time of 58.42 s and did not threaten the medals; Naber of the United States won in a time of 55.49 s. As Kerry outpaced Tonelli to finish seventh in the event, he was selected ahead of Tonelli for the backstroke leg in the 4 × 100 m medley relay.
In the 200 m event, Tonelli came second in his heat to qualify sixth fastest for the final. There he came fourth and missed the medals— which were swept by the Americans—by 1.82 s. He was 3.98 s behind Naber, who broke the world record and became the first person to break two minutes for the event. Australia struggled in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, eliminated in the preliminary round after finishing third in their heat, and ninth overall. Tonelli swam the second leg in a time of 1 m 55.94 s.
Tonelli returned to Alabama after the Olympics and intensified his training regimen, He recalled that "The coach really supplied me with the environment to improve. I got used to pressure. You had to stand up and race in dual meets almost every other weekend, no matter how you felt. In Australia you are lucky if you get two top meets a year."[ In 1977, he won the 100 m backstroke at the US Open Championships at ]Mission Viejo
Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...
, becoming one of the few Australians to win a US title.
Expelled from Australian team
Tonelli continued in the United States in 1978, recollecting "I really hit my straps", reporting that he had swum world records in time trials at training. Because he was in the United States, he was allowed to qualify for the 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
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, Canada by swimming fast times in events in North America. Tonelli raced in five events at the Canada Cup held in Edmonton, winning four. During a drunken party after the competition, Tonelli and some fellow swimmers decided to steal three giant flags from poles in the city centre: those of Canada, the City of Edmonton, and Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. In the process, Tonelli fell off the staff and was hospitalised, his arm put in plaster.
He returned to Mission Viejo and continued his build-up despite his arm injury, before flying to the Australian training camp in Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, where he was made team captain.[Forrest, p. 79.] However, his international career appeared to be in disarray when along with teammates Kerry and Joe Dixon, he was expelled from the team for breaking a curfew on the American Independence Day holiday.[Forrest, p. 85.] Tonelli also admitted to the officials that he had smoked marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
and been drinking on the night. In the aftermath of the incident, Tonelli appeared on Australian television, strongly denying rumours that he had been involved in a drug-fuelled orgy with teammates. He admitted to smoking marijuana, but defended his actions as being legal under Hawaii law. Supporters in Australia—including future Prime Minister Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
—launched a petition for the reinstatement of the trio. They gathered thousands of signatures to no avail.
Tonelli returned to the United States, while his compatriots competed for Australia. In the meantime, Tonelli again won the 100 m backstroke title at the US Nationals in a time two seconds faster than Patching's Commonwealth gold-winning effort.[Howell, p. 239.] He said that his career was "never the same again" after his expulsion by a "kangaroo court",[ feeling that the punishment had weakened his will. Tonelli predicted that he could have won eight Commonwealth Games gold medals and possibly set a world record in the 200 m backstroke if he had not been expelled.][Tonelli, p. 91.]
1980 Summer Olympics
In 1979 Tonelli failed to defend his US title in the 100 m backstroke, but managed third in the event at the National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) Championships in his final year of university. In his four years at Alabama, he was an eight-time All-American in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke. His triumph at the NCAA Championships came amid the backdrop of a teammate's death in a waterskiing accident during a social event with a group of fellow swimmers. Tonelli was driving the powerboat when he did a U-turn that resulted in his teammate being thrown off his skis and into the water. The boat's propeller then struck the man, who died due to severe cuts and blood loss.
Tonelli graduated,[Forrest, p. 43.] returned to Australia, and won the 100 m freestyle, butterfly and backstroke events at the 1979 Australian Championships. The following year, he repeated the freestyle and butterfly victories in times of 51.80 s and 56.64 s to gain selection for 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 Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
; he was also chosen for the 100 m and 200 m backstroke after finishing second to Kerry. However, another obstacle arose with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
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 ...
, which resulted in a boycott of the Games by a large part of the Western world, led by the United States. The Australian Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Malcolm Fraser was also the patron of the Australian Olympic Committee
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
, and significant political pressure came to bear on the athletes to boycott the Games. Tonelli however, knew that only the sportspeople would suffer from a boycott and that trade relations would continue unabated. He took a leadership role among the Australian athletes to fight for their right to compete.[Gordon, p. 334.] According to women's captain Lisa Forrest
Lisa Marie Forrest (born 9 March 1964)
Sports Ref ...
, Tonelli adopted populist tactics in championing the athletes' cause. He said that Fraser was sending "wheat to feed the Russian army, wool to clothe the army and Australian metal to make Russian guns", saying that this contradicted the proposed boycott in protest against Soviet military policy. Tonelli's anti-authoritarian and individualistic style manifested itself during media appearances, including a news interview in which he debated with Reverend , who had referred to the athletes as traitors.[Forrest, p. 163–164.] Shilton expressed sympathy to the athletes, which Tonelli interpreted as condescension. Unaware that the camera was broadcasting images of him, Tonelli responded by rolling his eyes and twirling his finger, a gaffe that was shown on national television. Forrest said that "the damage was done—one of our most prominent anti-boycott lobbyists ... looked like a smart alec".
Tonelli arrived in Moscow facing a heavy schedule: he was nominated in the 100 m freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, the 200 m backstroke and the 4 × 100 m medley and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. Tonelli came third in his heat of the 100 m freestyle to qualify fourth with a time of 52.04 s. However, he swam slower in coming fifth in his semifinal in a time of 52.17 s to miss the final by 0.26 s. Overall, he was ranked 10th, but if he repeated his Australian record of 51.80 set at the selection trials, he would have come sixth.
Tonelli had another let-down in the 100 m backstroke. He won his heat—which was relatively slow—in a time of 58.66 s, and scraped into the semifinals as the second slowest of 16 qualifiers. He then came second in his semifinal in a time of 57.89 s to qualify third fastest, before again swimming slower in the final and finishing seventh in a time of 57.98 s. However, the event was closely contested; only 0.18 s separated third and ninth places in the semifinal and there was only 0.35 s between bronze and seventh in the final.
Tonelli rued his individual performances in Moscow: "I fell apart. I had swum only one big race in the past twelve months and lacked the competitive edge." He came third in his heat of the 200 m backstroke in a time of 2 m 7.04 s, four seconds slower than his effort in the previous Olympics.[ This placed him in fifteenth position, more than two seconds from qualification for the final.] Tonelli then withdrew from the 100 m butterfly to concentrate on the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He combined with Kerry, Graeme Brewer
Graeme Thomas Brewer (born 1 December 1958) is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the late 1970s and early 1980s who won a bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In all he won 13 Australian titles.
A nati ...
and Ron McKeon as Australia qualified fourth before coming seventh.[Howell, p. 237.] Tonelli swam the second leg in the final after leading off in the heats. The Australians were third after the first leg, which was swum by Brewer, the bronze medallist in the corresponding individual event. However, Tonelli split 1 m 53.47 s, the fifth slowest time among the 32 swimmers, resulting in Australia falling back to seventh place by the end of his leg. Kerry and McKeon could not overtake any swimmers in the last two legs and Australia ended the race in seventh place, 1.52 s outside the medals.[Howell, p. 240.] Tonelli was disappointed with the relay result, feeling that the Australians—who came into the race ranked second in the world in the event—were too casual before the race, incorrectly believing that four fast legs from four fast swimmers would yield the desired result.
Relay gold
The 4 × 100 m medley relay was the focal point of Tonelli's Moscow campaign. The event had always been won by the United States since its inception at the Olympics at the 1960 Games, and their boycott had opened up the field. Australia's best result had come in the inaugural race, when it out-touched Japan to claim silver. The only other time that it had won a medal was in 1964, taking bronze, and the previous outing in 1976 had seen Australia eliminated in the heats. Australia was regarded as a chance of a medal, but were not seen as the main threats,[ with Sweden, Great Britain and the Soviet Union the most heavily fancied teams. The hosts' team included the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, and their butterflyer had come fifth; their freestyler would come fourth in his event. The British boasted ]Duncan Goodhew
Duncan Alexander Goodhew, (born 27 May 1957) is an English former competitive swimmer. After swimming competitively in America as a collegian at North Carolina State University, he was an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain and won Olympic gold a ...
, the breaststroke gold medallist, while Sweden's butterflyer and backstroker had won their respective events and their freestyle swimmer would come second in the 100 m.[Howell, p. 233.] On paper, Australia's team paled in comparison. 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 ...
, the freestyler, would come fourteenth in the corresponding individual event after having an asthma attack, while Peter Evans was the only individual medallist in the distance, claiming bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.[Andrews, p. 148.] Kerry had been eliminated in the backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer.[Howell, p. 234.] Adding to the pressure was the fact that Australia won no gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in any sport, so the public were still awaiting their first victory since the 1972 Games in Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
.[Gordon, p. 333.] Coming into the Olympics, Australia were ranked seventh out of the thirteen competing countries.[Forrest, p. 212.]
Australia's prospects improved after Sweden was disqualified in the morning heats. Tonelli, the eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, convened the team as its ''de facto'' leader. He asked his teammates to commit to swimming their legs in a certain time; Kerry vowed to complete the backstroke in 57 s, Evans the breaststroke in 63 s flat, Tonelli the butterfly in 54 s and Brooks promised to anchor the team in 49.8 s, even though he had never gone faster than 51 s. Tonelli named the foursome the ''Quietly Confident Quartet'', and they exhibited a calm self-belief as they lined up for the race.[Howell, p. 234.]
Kerry led off in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time of 57.87 s. This left Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s, leaving Australia almost level with the host nation at the halfway mark. Tonelli then swam the butterfly leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster his previous best over the distance. He did so with an uneven arm technique due to the unequal strength in his arms.[Howell, p. 242.] Tonelli's butterfly leg would have been good enough for a silver medal if he had replicated it in the individual event.[Andrews, pp. 440–441.] He began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre of his Soviet opponent by the end of his leg. Brooks then executed a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart. By the 50 m mark, he had drawn level and made a superior turn to take the lead. The Soviet freestyler pulled level at the 25 m mark before Brooks sprinted away again to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. He had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his teammates.[Andrews, p. 63.] The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first ever win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women. After the win, Tonelli said "I was totally stunned. After all the hassle, and my being the athletes' mouthpiece, we'd come through and done it." In 2000, Tonelli and the other members of the quartet were each awarded the Australian Sports Medal for their victory in Moscow.
Relations between the Olympians and the Australian Government remained tense after months of political struggle regarding the boycott.[Forrest, p. 213.] The quartet did not receive the customary congratulations from Fraser, who initially resisted complaints the next day from the media and government members at his failure to applaud the Australian victory. In a radio interview, he said "I hope that circumstances do not arise over the next few years which will cause them to have very great regrets about the fact that they've gone". Fraser relented and late in the night, his office sent a telegram indirectly, through the Australian Embassy in Moscow. Fraser had ordered the Australian diplomatic mission to shun the Olympians, so the embassy staff had to pass the envelopes containing the message through the Olympic Village
An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...
fence. Fraser's telegram said:[Forrest, p. 214.] "You know I did not and do not approve of Australia being represented at these Olympic Games. I do want to say however that your performance in the relay was a truly great sporting achievement. My personal congratulations." The swimmers tore up the message.
Tonelli retired after the Games. His aquatic success was not derived from any physical advantage, as he was relatively small for a swimmer. He was only 185 cm tall and weighed 70 kg, with relatively small hands and feet. Tonelli felt that his success was based around his ability to make fast starts from the blocks, and attributed his success to his mental approach and his ability to convert his energy into a fast swim in under one minute. He had a deliberate strategy of making himself nervous before the race, feeling that he thrived on pressure.[Howell, p. 240.]
After the 1980 Olympics
After retiring from competition, Tonelli did television commentary for the 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
and 1988 Olympics in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
respectively. Since 2004, he has been a swimming commentator on Sky News Australia. Outside swimming, he worked at a spastic centre for children in Brisbane in the 1980s before opening his own swimming school. He also completed a series for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
on their ''Lifestyle'' TV program and produced movies on swimming and child development. Tonelli later set up his own computing business, which he ran for three years. He also served as a sports administrator, completing a term on the Australian Sports Commission in its early years in the 1980s. One policy that he proposed was the creation of an athletes' appeal tribunal similar to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...
so that "officials are now held accountable for their actions".[ He cited his expulsion from the Australian team as his motivation for having an appeals mechanism.][Tonelli, p. 91.] As of 2007, Tonelli was working as a real estate agent and corporate speaker. He married his wife Lee in the late 1990s.[Tonelli, ]
See also
* List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
* List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
This is the complete list of men's Olympic medalists in swimming.
Men's events 50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
100 metre backstroke
200 metre ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonelli, Mark
1957 births
Living people
Alabama Crimson Tide men's swimmers
Australian male butterfly swimmers
Australian male freestyle swimmers
Australian male backstroke swimmers
Olympic swimmers of Australia
Olympic gold medalists for Australia
Australian people of Dutch descent
Australian people of Irish descent
Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
Sportspeople from Ipswich, Queensland
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
Swimmers at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games
Olympic gold medalists in swimming
Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming