Travis Mahoney (born 24 July 1990) is an Australian
medley 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. Winner of two relay medals at the
2012 World Short Course Championships, he is also part of the quartet that broke the
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
in the short course mixed 4 × 50 metres freestyle relay. In 2016, he qualified for his first Olympic Games.
Career
A late bloomer who struggled during his junior career, Mahoney first represented Australia at the
2012 World Cup winning three medals at the age of 22. In Beijing, he won silver in 400 metre individual medley and in Singapore, Mahoney won silver in the 400 metre individual medley and bronze in the 200 metre backstroke.
The following month at the
2012 World Short Course Championships in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, he won two medals in relay events. Alongside
Tommaso D'Orsogna
Tommaso William D'Orsogna (born 29 December 1990) is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's 4×100-metre medley relay. He also won gold in that event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in a ...
,
Kyle Richardson
Kyle Davis Richardson (born March 2, 1973) is a former National Football League (NFL) punter. He played college football at Arkansas State University and went on to have a ten-year professional career. He played for the Rhein Fire in NFL Europ ...
and
Kenneth To
Kenneth King-him To (7 July 199219 March 2019) was a Hong Kong Australian swimmer who practised individual medley, freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke. He won 6 medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, was the male overall winner of the 20 ...
, they won the bronze in the
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay in 3:07.27. In the
4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
event, Mahoney swam the third leg of the heats to qualify third fastest. In the final, Mahoney was replaced by Richardson and with D'Orsogna,
Jarrod Killey Jarrod is a variant of the name Jared.
Jarrod may refer to:
*Jarrod Alexander, American drummer
*Jarrod Atkinson, Australian rules footballer
*Jarrod Bannister (1984-2018), Australian javelin thrower
*Jarrod Baxter (born 1979), former fullback in ...
and
Robert Hurley won silver in a new
Oceanian record time of 6:52.29. In his individual swims, Mahoney finished 7th in the
200 metre backstroke and narrowly missed the final in both the
400
__NOTOC__
Year 400 ( CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year 11 ...
and the
200 metre individual medley
The 200-metre individual medley is a race in competitive swimming in which swimmers compete in all 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) in one race, with each leg being 50 metres in length. The stroke order is different ...
events
finishing 9th and 10th respectively.
At the
2013 Australian Swimming Championships
The 2013 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 26 April until 3 May 2013 at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. They doubled up as the national trials for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships.
...
, Mahoney won silver in the 400 metre individual medley in 4:18.09, just missing the qualifying time for the
2013 World Championships by 1.61 seconds.
In December he swam in five legs of the
2013 World Cup. In Dubai, Mahoney won bronze in both the 200 metre backstroke and the 400 metre individual medley. In Singapore, the foursome of Mahoney,
Regan Leong,
Brittany Elmslie
Brittany Joyce Elmslie, (born 19 June 1994) is a former Australian competitive swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming, and won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at both Games.
Personal ...
and
Emma McKeon
Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time world record holder, one current and three former, in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the ...
won silver in the mixed 4 × 50 metre freestyle relay. At the penultimate leg in Tokyo in the heats of the mixed 4 × 50 metre freestyle relay D'Orsogna, Leong, the Campbell sisters
Bronte and
Cate
Cate is a feminine given name. It is a variant of Kate. The name comes from Latin, French, English, and Welsh origins. The name literally means either 'pure' or 'blessed', used in different context. The name Catherine is popular in Christian count ...
set a new
world record time of 1:31.13. In the final, Mahoney replaced Leong as the second leg swimmer and together they won gold and set another world record, dropping to the time to 1:29.61. The final leg in Beijing saw the same foursome win gold in the event again but narrowly missing the world record posting a time of 1:30.52. Mahoney also picked another individual medal with bronze in the 400 metre individual medley to cap off his world cup campaign.
At the
2014 Australian Swimming Championships
The 2014 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 1 to 6 April 2014 at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre in Brisbane, Queensland. They doubled up as the national trials for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Qualification criteria
Below ...
, he again won silver in the 400 metre individual medley in a personal best time of 4:17.39, bettering the B standard time and qualified for the Commonwealth Games. At the
Glasgow Commonwealth Games
The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
in July, Mahoney swam under 4:15 for the first time in the
400 IM to finish as the second fastest qualifier. In the final, he finished 6th with a time of 4:18.51.
Three weeks later at the
2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014.
Qualifying cr ...
in
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
, Australia, Mahoney finished 6th in the
200 metre individual medley
The 200-metre individual medley is a race in competitive swimming in which swimmers compete in all 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) in one race, with each leg being 50 metres in length. The stroke order is different ...
, 7th in the
400 metre individual medley, 14th in the
200 metre backstroke and 17th in the
200 metre freestyle.
In December, he represented Australia at his second
World Short Course Championships in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
. On night 1, Mahoney,
Matthew Abood
Matthew Abood (born 28 June 1986 in Sydney) is a freestyle swimmer from Australia. He won the bronze medal with the Australian swimming team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as well as the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships in Sh ...
,
Cameron McEvoy
Cameron McEvoy (born 13 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer who represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Career Junior
At the 2011 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, ...
and
Tommaso D'Orsogna
Tommaso William D'Orsogna (born 29 December 1990) is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's 4×100-metre medley relay. He also won gold in that event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in a ...
finished 5th in the
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay. The following morning he placed a disappointing 21st in the
400 metre individual medley in a time of 4:12.21. Illness stuck Mahoney and as a result withdrew from his remaining events – the
100
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
and
200 metre individual medley
The 200-metre individual medley is a race in competitive swimming in which swimmers compete in all 4 strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) in one race, with each leg being 50 metres in length. The stroke order is different ...
and the
200 metre backstroke.
In April 2015, at the
national titles, Mahoney finished third in the 400 IM to again narrowly miss out on qualifying for the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. In July, he competed at the
Summer Universiade
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred t ...
in
Gwangju
Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...
, South Korea. On night 1, Mahoney,
Jacob Hansford
Jacob Hansford (born 28 September 1995) is an Australian swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
References
External links
*
1995 births
Living people
Sportsmen from New ...
,
Jack McLoughlin
Jack Alan McLoughlin (born 1 February 1995) is a retired Australian swimmer. He competed in the men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games McLoughlin won a gold medal in the same event and sil ...
and
Justin James were fifth to touch the wall in the
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay only to be later disqualified when James as the anchor swimmer broke early. Redemption was made by the same foursome in
4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
by taking out the silver medal. In the
4 × 100 metre medley relay, the Australian quartet of Mahoney,
Nicholas Schafer
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its d ...
,
Nicholas Brown and Justin James finished fourth with Mahoney swimming the backstroke leg in 54.84. Individually, Mahoney swam 5th in the 200 IM, 6th in the 400 IM and 13th in 100 metre freestyle.
In October, Mahoney competed at his third
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
. Only attending the Tokyo leg, he finished 5th both the 200 and 400 IM events, 13th in the 200 metre freestyle and 14th in the 100 freestyle.
In April 2016, at the
national championships
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
he finished second in the 400 metres individual medley in a personal best time of 4:14.98 to qualify for his first Olympic Games.
An emotional Mahoney stated that his greatest inspiration was his aunt Sally McLean who died in August 2015 after a nine-year battle with cancer at the age of 52. He also lost his grandmother within two months of losing his aunt.
See also
*
References
External links
*
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahoney, Travis
1990 births
Australian male freestyle swimmers
Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia
World record setters in swimming
Living people
Australian male backstroke swimmers
Australian male medley swimmers
Swimmers from Melbourne
Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic swimmers for Australia
Universiade medalists in swimming
Universiade silver medalists for Australia
Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade
21st-century Australian people
People from Box Hill, Victoria
Sportsmen from Victoria (state)