Mark Ferdinand Treffers (born 16 December 1953) is a former swimming representative from

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 ...

and

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 ...

gold medalist who specialised in long distance

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 ...

and

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

races. He was born in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

and was taught to swim at the Waverly Swimming Club before moving to

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 / ...

to train at the Wharenui Swim Club under legendary New Zealand coach Pic Parkhouse.

Commonwealth Games

At the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

held in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, he won the bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle in a time of 16:44.69. At the

1974 British 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 ...

held in

, he won the gold medal in the men's

400m Individual Medley Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay. Individual m ...

on the same day fellow New Zealander and Wharenui team-mate Jaynie Parkhouse won a gold medal in the 800m Freestyle. Treffers would go on to claim a silver medal in the men's 1500m Freestyle, his main race, as he become just the seventh man in history to break 16 minutes finishing behind Australian

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 ...

Olympic Games

He competed at both the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

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 ...

with his best result being 6th place in the 1500 m at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

British Championship

Despite being from New Zealand he won the 'Open' British Championship over 880 yards freestyle and the 1970 1650 yards freestyle title.

Personal life

Treffers studied law at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

while training for 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 ...

before becoming a lawyer in Australia after retiring from swimming. Mark's son Ben Treffers represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in swimming, winning a gold medal in the 50m Backstroke at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Mark Treffers Drive in New Brighton and Treffers Road in Wigram are named after him.

References

1953 births Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand New Zealand male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Olympic swimmers for New Zealand Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Living people Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming 20th-century New Zealand people Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games New Zealand male medley swimmers {{NewZealand-swimming-bio-stub

Commonwealth Games

Olympic Games

British Championship

Personal life

See also

References