Thomas Stachewicz (born 5 December 1965) is a former

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

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

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 ...

, who represented Australia at three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. Stachewicz made his Olympic debut in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles, where he competed in the heats of the Men's 4×200-metre freestyle relay. The Australian 4×200-metre relay team recorded national records in both the preliminaries and final, finishing with a time of 7 minutes 25.63 seconds, 0.85 of a second behind third place Great Britain. Stachewicz swam the preliminary only at this meet. At the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh, Stachewicz was part of the gold medal-winning men's 4×200-metre freestyle relay team. He also won bronze in the men's 200-metre freestyle. Later that year he competed in the 1986 World Swimming Championships in Madrid, where he was part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team that finished fourth. In 1987 Stachewicz broke the Commonwealth record in the 200-metre freestyle at the NOK International Championship in East Berlin in a time of 1 minute 49.32 seconds being the first Australian to break the 1 minute 50 second mark. At

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, Stachewicz swam well below his best in the men's 200-metre freestyle heats, qualifying only for the B Final, where he finished 3rd in 1 minute 50.83 seconds. He also competed in the men's 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle events, winning the B Final in the

100-metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming (sport), swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics (sport), Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long ...

in 50.71 seconds. He led off the relay in the final of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, recording a personal best of 1 minute 48.99 seconds. This time ranked him second all-time Australian in the 200-metre freestyle behind Duncan Armstrong's world record from earlier in the meet. The Australian team went on to record a national record of 7 minutes 15.23 seconds for their fourth place, 0.88 of a second behind the West German team in the bronze medal position. At the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

in Auckland, New Zealand, Stachewicz was a member of the gold medal-winning men's 4×100-metre freestyle relay and 4×200-metre freestyle relay teams. He was also a member of the bronze medal-winning 4×100-metre medley relay team and won an individual bronze in the men's 200-metre freestyle final in a time of 1 minute 49.98 seconds. In 1991 he competed at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, where he came seventh in the men's 100-metre backstroke. Stachewicz then competed in the 4×100-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre medley relays at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, where the team finished 7th and 8th respectively. He also competed in the men's 100-metre backstroke, finishing 4th in his heat with a time of 57.03 seconds. He was coach of the

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably I ...

Olympic team for 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 ...

, and his career since then has included the post of Director of Swimming at

All Saints' College, Perth All Saints' College is an independent Anglican co-educational early learning, primary, and secondary day school, located in Bull Creek, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The college is situated on , approximately south of the ...

. In 2009 he was inducted into the Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stachewicz, Thomas 1965 births Living people Australian people of Polish descent Australian male backstroke swimmers Australian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people)

See also

References