Todd Robert Pearson (born 25 November 1977) is an Australian

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

champion, who was born in Geraldton, Western Australia. He started swimming on the advice of a doctor treating his asthma. Pearson was vice captain of

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to be ...

in 1994 where he spent time in Faulkner House and St George House. He was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

scholarship holder.AIS at the Olympics
He was no stranger to the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

. After swimming the heat of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay 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 ...

in Sydney, Pearson was a spectator for the final, when the Australians set a world record by beating the US team for the first time in Olympic history. He went on to swim in the final of the 4×200-metre freestyle with

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

Michael Klim Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

and

Bill Kirby William Ashley Kirby (born 12 September 1975) is an Australian swimmer who was competitive on an international level in the nineties and early 2000s. He specialized in freestyle and butterfly and won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics ...

. The Aussies led from start to finish, setting another world record and achieving every child's dream of winning gold for Australia. Pearson was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

medal for contribution to sport for this effort. After Sydney in 2000, Pearson won gold medals at the

2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The ninth edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in 2002 in Yokohama International Swimming Pool in Yokohama, Japan, from August 24–29. One world record A world record is usually the ...

and the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

. He was also co-captain of the Australian swimming team in 2001. Despite swimming more than 50 kilometres a week, Pearson found time to complete a bachelor of commerce degree with a major in accounting and has worked for a multinational accounting firm. Pearson later represented Australia in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, winning a silver medal.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Todd 1977 births Living people People educated at Hale School Australian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of Australia Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia Sportspeople from Geraldton World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Goodwill Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games 21st-century Australian people 20th-century Australian people

See also

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