Simon Thirsk (born 15 May 1977 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

) is a retired South African swimmer, who specialised in backstroke events.

Career and awards

Thirsk won a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke at the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football, ceremonies * Arena Son Moix — volleyball * Pavelló Son Hugo — swimming, diving, ...

, and later represented South Africa at 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 ...

. While residing in the United States, Thirsk played for the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

's swimming and diving team, also known as the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes a ...

, under head coach Sam Freas. Thirsk burst onto the global scene at the

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

. In the 100 m backstroke, he fought off a challenge from Japan's Keitaro Konnai to power home with South Africa's first ever gold in 55.97. At the

in Sydney, Thirsk competed only in two swimming events. After winning a gold medal from the University Games, his entry time of 55.97 was officially accredited under a

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

A-standard. In the

100 m backstroke 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Thirsk challenged seven other swimmers in heat six, including Cuba's Olympic silver medalist

Rodolfo Falcón Rodolfo A. Falcón Cabrera (born October 25, 1972 in Havana, Cuba) is a 3-time Olympic swimmer from Cuba, and has been called the country's best swimmer ever.Matt Welsh Matthew James Welsh (born 18 November 1976) is an Australian swimmer who is the former world champion in the backstroke and butterfly. He took two golds in 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter backstroke, during one hour, at the World Championship ...

. He rounded out the field to last place and thirtieth overall by a 2.36-second deficit behind winner Welsh in 57.06. Thirsk also teamed up with

Brett Petersen Brett Petersen (born 9 September 1976) is a South African former swimmer, who specialised in breaststroke events. He won a gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the 1999 All-Africa Games, and later became a top 8 finalist in the same distance ...

Nicholas Folker Nicholas Folker (born October 26, 1976) is a South African former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He captured two medals at the 1999 All-Africa Games, and later represented South Africa at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Folker wa ...

, and

Theo Verster Theophilus "Theo" Verster (born 14 January 1975) is a South African former swimmer, who specialised in butterfly and in individual medley events. He won three medals at the 1999 All-Africa Games, and later represented South Africa at the 2000 S ...

in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Leading off a backstroke leg in heat two, Thirsk recorded a split of 56.88, but the South Africans finished the race in fourth place and thirteenth overall with a final time of 3:42.44. Three years later, at the

2003 All-Africa Games The 8th All Africa Games were 5–17 October 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria. 53 countries participated in 23 sports. The main venue was the newly constructed Abuja Stadium. The organizing committee was headed by Nigerian Amos Adamu. Venues * Moshood ...

Abuja, Nigeria Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

, Thirsk collected a total of three medals: two silvers in the 50 m backstroke (27.04) and 100 m backstroke (57.60), and a single bronze in the 200 m backstroke (2:09.79).

References

External links

News 24 Profile
1977 births Living people Alumni of Camps Bay High School Olympic swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics South African male backstroke swimmers Sportspeople from Cape Town Hawaii Rainbow Warriors swimmers African Games silver medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming African Games bronze medalists for South Africa Competitors at the 2003 All-Africa Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Africa Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade {{SouthAfrica-swimming-bio-stub