Karen Lynne Moras (born 6 January 1954), also known by her married name Karen Stephenson, is an Australian distance

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 Lab ...

swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

. Although she set multiple world records she peaked between Olympics and was unable to capture gold at Olympic level.Karen Moras
Sports-Reference.com Trained by

Forbes Carlile Forbes Carlile MBE (3 June 19212 August 2016) was Australia's first post-World War II Olympics swimming coach and later Australia's first competitor in the modern pentathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He remains the only person to ...

, and making her international debut as a 14-year-old prodigy, Moras was expected to win medals at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. She struggled, however, to adapt to the rarefied air at high altitude conditions and required medical treatment for breathing difficulties and

hyperventilation Hyperventilation is irregular breathing that occurs when the rate or tidal volume of breathing eliminates more carbon dioxide than the body can produce. This leads to hypocapnia, a reduced concentration of carbon dioxide dissolved in the bloo ...

. Despite this Moras managed to salvage a bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle, behind the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

duo of Debbie Meyer and Linda Gustavson. She nearly claimed a second bronze in the 800-metre freestyle, being beaten into fourth by 0.1 of a second by Mexico's Maria Teresa Ramírez who was much more acclimated to the local conditions. In 1970 Moras broke the 800-metre freestyle world record at the Australian Championships, qualifying for the

1970 Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

in Edinburgh. She was the dominant swimmer at the Games, winning the 200-, 400- and 800-metre freestyle events, cutting 7 seconds off her 800-metre freestyle world record in the process. Her winning time in the 400-metre freestyle was less than a second outside Meyer's world record. On Moras' return to Australia a new swimmer,

Shane Gould Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 2018, she won the fifth season of ''Australian Survivor,'' becom ...

, had joined Carlile's group and by the end of the year Gould had defeated Moras in state-level carnivals. In 1971, after Gould claimed every freestyle world record from 100-metre to 1500-metre, Moras left Carlile's group to train under Don Talbot, feeling that Carlile was spending too much time focusing on Gould. Moras qualified to represent Australia at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

in Munich in the 400- and 800-metre freestyle and the 400-metre individual medley, but failed to reach the final in any of the events. She retired from competitive swimming after the Olympics. Her sister, Narelle Moras, also competed at the Munich Games, finishing eighth in the 800-metre freestyle. She currently works at Presbyterian Ladies' College in Croydon as part of the swimming coaching and staff at their Aquatic Centre, as Aquatic Director. She was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser t ...

in 1985.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moras, Karen 1954 births Living people Sportswomen from New South Wales Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Australian female freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Swimmers from Sydney Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia

See also

References

Bibliography