Neville Ronald Hayes (2 December 1943 – 28 June 2022) was an Australian

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

swimmer of the 1960s, who won two silver medals at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

in Rome, in the 200-metre butterfly and the 4×100-metre medley relay. Hayes set world records in both the 110-yard and 220-yard butterfly in the lead-up to the 1960 Games. However, the 100-metre butterfly was not contested as an individual event in that era. Hayes was aiming for success in the 200-metre butterfly, but came up against the United States'

Michael Troy Michael Francis Troy (October 3, 1940 – August 3, 2019) was an American competitive swimmer, a two-time Olympic champion, and world record-holder in three events. The peak of Troy's swimming career occurred between 1959 and 1960 while he was ...

. Although Hayes improved his personal best by three seconds in the final, Troy was a further two seconds ahead, and broke his own world record. Hayes claimed the silver, with fellow Australian

Kevin Berry Kevin John Berry, OAM, (10 April 1945 – 7 December 2006) was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s who won the gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He set twelve world records in his career. ...

in sixth place. Hayes then combined with

David Theile David Egmont Theile, AO (born 17 January 1938) is an Australian former backstroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won consecutive gold medals in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, the only Australian to do so. H ...

, Terry Gathercole and Geoff Shipton to claim a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay, the first time the event was held at the Olympics, again behind the American team. In 1962, Hayes was usurped as Australia's leading butterfly swimmer when Berry defeated him at a dual meet between Australia and Japan. Later that year at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia, Berry defeated Hayes into silver the 100-metre butterfly by almost three seconds. Berry repeated the result in the 200-metre event, beating Hayes by 5.5 seconds. He graduated from Harvard University with Bachelor of Arts in 1967, and from Harvard Business School with an MBA in 1969. While attending Harvard as an undergraduate, he swam for the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than ...

swimming and diving team from 1964 to 1967, and received All-American honours in his signature event, the 200-yard butterfly.

References

1943 births 2022 deaths Olympic swimmers for Australia Harvard Business School alumni Harvard Crimson men's swimmers Swimmers from Sydney Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games {{Australia-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References