Sandra Anne Morgan (born 6 June 1942), also known by her married name Sandra Beavis, or as Sandra Morgan-Beavis, is an Australian former freestyle swimmer who was part of the gold medal-winning team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in Melbourne. At the age of 14 years and 6 months, she became the youngest Australian to win an

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

, a record that still stands. Morgan began serious training in early 1956 and won Olympic selection for the relay team as well as the 400-metre freestyle. Morgan's selection in the final quartet raised controversy because of her inexperience in top-level racing and her history of

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result ...

s. During the final, she lifted her head out of the water and saw her American opponent ahead of her, prompting her to regain the lead with a late burst in the third leg. Australia went on to win the relay in world record time. In her only individual event, Morgan came sixth in the 400-metre freestyle. In 1957, she won the 110-, 220-, and 440-yard treble at the

Australian Championships The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

in the absence of her main rivals, but from that point on her career was plagued by illness and weight problems. She was selected in the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

purely as a relay swimmer, winning gold in the event. At her second Olympic Games, 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, she only competed in the 4 × 100 relay heats; her teammates went on to win silver in the final. She retired from competitive swimming following the Rome Olympics. In retirement, she has continued her involvement in swimming and the Olympics by teaching disabled children to swim and participating in Olympic educational programs and

torch relays A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. In ...

. She is also an ambassador for

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

and has appeared on television as part of her work with Christian groups. .

Early years

Morgan was born in the north-western

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 ...

city of Tamworth, before growing up in Punchbowl, a suburb in

South-western Sydney South Western Sydney is a region of the metropolitan area in southwest Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the predominantly working class area of Greater Western Sydney. The region lies in the Cumberland Plain. Local government ...

.Howell, p. 135. Morgan was the oldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother. Her father Barrington, a plumber, had success as a swimmer in his childhood, but a lack of facilities in rural Australia curtailed his career. As a result, he vowed that his daughter would become a national champion. Morgan said her father "became my driving and inspirational force. I not only fulfilled his ambition, but surpassed it by becoming an Olympic champion!" Morgan also cited her meetings with

Frederick Lane Frederick Claude Vivian Lane (2 February 1880 – 14 May 1969) was an Australian swimming (sport), swimmer who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Lane, from Manly, New South Wales, was four years old when his brother saved him from drownin ...

—Australia's first Olympic gold medallist in swimming—and the Olympic athletics champion

Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (13 September 1931) is a former Governor of South Australia and a former Australian athlete. She finished her sporting career with two Olympic and seven Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, six individual world records an ...

as key inspirational moments in her career. Morgan learned to swim at

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

at the age of 7. She was initially slow to learn, and her coach used a long pole attached to a rope and belt to maintain her safety. This allowed him to fish her out of the water if she fell into difficulty. Due to her slow learning, Morgan was given twice the number of lessons as the other students. At the age of eight, she won the district championship, and in 1953, aged 11, she won the New South Wales (NSW) Primary School Championships. In February 1956, aged 13, she was taken for serious training. Her father transferred her to the tutelage of Frank Guthrie in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

. At the time, Guthrie was regarded as one of the best coaches in the state; his students included Gary Chapman,

Kevin O'Halloran Kevin O'Halloran (3 March 1937 – 5 July 1976) was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s who won a gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The first Western Australian to win Olympic ...

and

Lorraine Crapp Lorraine Joyce Thurlow, (born 1 October 1938), née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle ...

. All three (plus Morgan) would win medals at the

.Howell, p. 136. Her mother had to drive her to Enfield, as her father was busy with the plumbing business.

National selection

Under Guthrie's coaching, Morgan quickly became one of the fastest junior swimmers in the state, winning the under-14 110-yard and 55-yard freestyle, as well as the 110-yard

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 ...

at the New South Wales Championships in 1956. She went on to win the junior 110-yard freestyle at the Australian Championships, despite causing two false starts. After the national titles, she represented Marrickville Junior Girls' High School and won the State Combined High School Championship in the 110-yard freestyle. Although her times were among the fastest in the country, Morgan's youth prevented selection for the Olympic training squad. However, the Australian Swimming Union allowed her to join the squad for training in Townsville at her own expense. Her family was unable to meet these costs, but a fundraising campaign by the Bankstown community allowed her to make the trip. Training in the

Tobruk Memorial Baths The Tobruk Memorial Baths is a heritage-listed complex of outdoor swimming pools on The Strand, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1941 to 1950 by Townsville City Council as a World War II memorial. Th ...

alongside swimmers such as Crapp,

Alva Colquhoun Alva Merlin Colquhoun (married name Wyatt, born 28 February 1942) is an Australian former freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1950s, who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. She is perha ...

Faith Leech Faith Yvonne Leech (31 March 1941 – 14 September 2013) was an Australian freestyle swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100–metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. A tall an ...

and

Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer and former politician. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. ...

, Morgan's times steadily improved. The team were expected to swim three times a day, totalling more than . However, Morgan was not regarded as a likely selection in the final team. Following the training camp, a series of selection trials were held in Brisbane and Melbourne. In three 100-metre races, Morgan came third, fifth and fourth respectively, with a best time of 1 minute 7.3 seconds. She recorded a best performance of third in a time of 5 minutes 10.0 seconds in the 400-metre freestyle behind Crapp and Fraser. Australia was entitled to three representatives in each individual event, thus allowing Morgan to compete in her first Olympics. Morgan missed out in the 100-metre freestyle as Fraser, Crapp and Leech were selected, but she gained an individual berth in the 400-metre along with Fraser and Crapp. She was one of six swimmers selected for the 4×100-metre freestyle relay squad, the first from Australia to compete at Olympic level. Morgan was placed under substantial pressure by media commentary that regarded her as the weak link in the relay team.

1956 Summer Olympics

Arriving in Melbourne for the Olympics, Morgan was not assured of a place in the final relay quartet. Fraser and Crapp were rested in the heats on 4 December while the remaining four swimmers qualified the team. Morgan swam the second leg in 1 minute 5.4 seconds, the fastest of the Australians, securing her position in the final four along with Leech. Australia qualified quickest for the final, winning the second heat by 3.1 seconds. They were 1.8 and 2.3 seconds faster than the

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...

and

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

, respectively, both of which swam in the first heat. Australian team in Heat 2-S

The selection of Leech and Morgan for the 6 December final generated controversy, as they were the two youngest swimmers in the squad and lacked experience at open level competition. Both had competed only once at senior Australian level; Morgan had twice false started at the 1956 Australian Championships, while Leech had been too ill to compete. Australia was the favourite for the relay, having swept the medals in the individual 100-metre event; Fraser, Crapp and Leech finished first, second and third.Howell, p. 131. The favouritism was even more marked because Fraser and Crapp were three seconds faster than everyone else in the world. The Australian team made a poor start in the final after Fraser almost stopped during the first leg, believing that a false start had occurred after mistakenly hearing a second gunshot. She finished her leg in 1 minute 4.0 seconds, almost two seconds slower than her personal best, but enough for a 2.3-second lead over the United States'

Sylvia Ruuska Sylvia Eliina Ruuska (July 4, 1942 – February 7, 2019) was an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in two events. At the age of 14, Ruuska won two medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbour ...

. Swimming the second leg, Leech maintained the lead in the first 50 metres but faded in the second half and finished with a split of 1 minute 5.1 seconds; the Australian lead was thus cut to 0.9 s. Morgan dived in for the third leg and was then overhauled and passed by American

Nancy Simons Nancy Joan Simons (born May 20, 1938), later known by her married name Nancy Peterson, is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic medalist. She represented the United States as an eighteen-year-old at the 1956 Summer Olympics in ...

. With 25 metres left, Morgan took her head out of the water—a fundamental error—and seeing the American a body length in front, responded with a surge to regain a 0.7-second lead heading into the final changeover. Crapp then extended the margin to 2.2 seconds to secure an Australian victory in a world-record time of 4 minutes 17.1 seconds.Howell, p. 132.Andrews, pp. 307–308. The victory was the first time that Australia had swept the 100-metre freestyle relay and individual events for both men and women. The only other time that this has been achieved was by the Americans in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

in Antwerp. The win would be Australia's only triumph in a female swimming relay at the Olympics until the 2004 Games in Athens. The victory made Morgan Australia's youngest-ever gold medallist; this record still stands. Morgan's individual event was the 400-metre freestyle. She reduced her personal best by 2.3 seconds in recording a time of 5 minutes 7.8 seconds in the heats, just 0.2 of a second behind Marley Shriver of the United States, who set a new Olympic record. The mark was surpassed in later heats by Fraser and Crapp, but Morgan nevertheless qualified fourth fastest for the final, almost seven seconds faster than the cutoff. The final was held the day after the relay final. Morgan was unable to repeat her heat performance, finishing sixth in a time of 5 minutes 14.3 seconds, far outside her personal best. Had she repeated her heat swim, she would have placed fourth, just 0.7 of a second from the bronze medal. Nevertheless, she noted that "I was so happy that I had made the final in an individual event in the Olympic Games, for this was my first appearance in a senior competition". Upon her return to Bankstown, Morgan was honoured with a civic reception and presented with a gold watch and life membership of the Bankstown Pool. However, her stay at the Olympic Village had given rise to a new problem. She enjoyed the food so much that she had gained in weight, and now stood at and weighed . This heralded the start of a continual weight problem.Howell, p. 137.

Later career

After the Olympics, Crapp and Fraser took a break from competitive swimming, while Leech retired. This allowed Morgan an opening, and she won both the junior and open sprint titles at the 1957 New South Wales Championships. She followed this by winning three individual titles at the Australian Championships in Canberra: the 110-, 220- and 440-yard freestyle, in times of 1 minute 7.8 seconds; 2 minutes 29.3 seconds; and 5 minutes 21.6 seconds, respectively. Her times were slower than her bests in 1956. She was part of the New South Wales team that won the 4×100-yard freestyle and medley relays, anchoring both quartets. In 1958, Crapp and Fraser returned to the pool, while

Ilsa Konrads Ilsa Konrads ( lv, Ilze Konrade; born 29 March 1944) is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. In her career, she set 13 individual ...

emerged as a leading swimmer. At the Australian Championships, Morgan came third in both the 110-yard and 440-yard freestyle events; Fraser won both and Crapp and Konrads placed second in the 110-yard and 440-yard freestyle respectively. Morgan was selected for the

in Cardiff, Wales, but only in the 4×110-yard freestyle relay. Along with Fraser, Crapp and Konrads, she broke the world record for the event in March in Sydney with a time of 4 minutes 18.9 seconds. At the Empire Games, Fraser, Crapp, Morgan and Colquhoun lowered the world record to a time of 4 minutes 17.4 seconds to win gold. After the Empire Games, the Australian team returned home via France, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Singapore for a series of competitions. Morgan's best performances were at the Dutch and French Championships, where she came third in the 400-metre events. In 1959, she placed third in both the 440-yard and 880-yard freestyle events at the Australian Championships. Her swimming career was then interrupted by

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

, which developed into

bronchial pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity of ...

. The illness forced her to take an extended break. Her chest problems persisted when she returned to competition at the 1960 Australian Championships, placing third in the 220-yard and 440-yard freestyle and fifth in the 110-yard freestyle. She gained selection for the

in Rome as a member of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay squad. She swam the first leg in the heats, posting a time of 1 minute 5.5 seconds, giving Australia a 1.0-second lead. Australia led at every change and went on to win its heat by five seconds, qualifying fastest for the final. However, Morgan posted the slowest leg of the Australian quartet and was dropped when Fraser and Konrads were brought into the team for the final, in which Australia won silver. Under the rules of the time, heat swimmers were not awarded medals if the final quartet placed in the top three positions. Suffering from periodic chest pain, Morgan retired from competitive swimming in December 1960.

After swimming

Morgan married George Beavis in 1965 and had three daughters, all of whom enjoyed swimming victories at school and district level. After her marriage, she lived in the

Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

towns of

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

for six years before returning to Sydney. She experimented with coaching, but found the competition unappealing and became a schoolteacher. In 1978, she began teaching handicapped children to swim in her backyard pool, and was given a government grant to continue her work. She then ran a swimming school at

Bonnet Bay Bonnet Bay is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia that is located south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. Its postcode is 2226, which it shares ...

for 15 years and worked at the Bates Drive Special School, receiving a grant to teach preschool handicapped children swimming. In later life, Morgan successfully fought a life-threatening battle against

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

, and in 2004 she was living in

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

in southern Sydney. A committed Christian, Morgan has been a public speaker at functions for Seasons Christian Women's Conference. From January 1996 to mid-1999, she lived in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, along with her husband, who was posted there by his employer. During that time, Morgan worked as a Bible teacher at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kuala Lumpur. She has also appeared on ''Face to Face'', a Christian television talk show that screens on the

Ten Network Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. In 1995, Morgan was inducted into the Hall of Champions at the State Sports Centre and the Path of Champions at the

Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) , formerly Sydney International Aquatic Centre (SIAC), is a swimming venue located in the Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1994, the SOPAC was a major venue for th ...

. She has been involved in educational programs aimed at promoting the Olympic movement in schools and helps to raise funds for 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 ...

. In 2000, Morgan was awarded the Australian Government's

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for her contributions to the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

held in Sydney and her achievements as a competitor. She has been awarded the honour of carrying the

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic ...

during its passage through Australia in both

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Morgan is an

ambassador, and travels to regional towns promoting the annual celebrations.

Notes and references

Cited sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Sandra 1942 births Living people Australian female freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of Australia Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists for Australia Swimmers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Swimmers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games World record setters in swimming Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Australian Christians Swimmers from Sydney People from Tamworth, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games