Laurie Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Laurie Joseph Lawrence (born 14 October 1941 in Townsville, Queensland
), is an Australia
n swimming
coach
. He was also an Australia national rugby union team
member in 1964.
. Afflicted by bronchiectasis
through his childhood Lawrence had part of his lung surgically removed
, and was advised to pursue swimming in order to improve his remaining lung function. This prompted Lawrence's father to change jobs to become the manager of the Tobruk Pool
, on Townsville's foreshore. During 1956 and 1960 the Tobruk Pool was the training venue for the Australian Olympic Team. Greats like Dawn Fraser
, Lorraine Crapp
, Jon Henricks
, John Konrads
, Ilsa Konrads
, Murray Rose
, David Theile
and John Devitt
were some of the many athletes who trained there. Lawrence states:
Lawrence's parents separated later in the 1950s, and Lawrence moved with his mother to Brisbane
. He attended St Laurence's College
and then Kelvin Grove Teachers College
. He played Rugby Union
to get a scholarship to be a Phys Ed
teacher, which led to his selection for the 1964 international tour of New Zealand
.
's coach and learn from his training regimen. He moved to Sydney
to take over as swim coach from Don Talbot
at the Hurstville Club. He inherited from Talbot the responsibility for young Stephen Holland
, whom he guided to a world record and world championship in 1972. Lawrence then took a hiatus from swim coaching in 1975 to support his wife (and former swimmer) Jocelyn, after the birth of his daughter Jane.
Lawrence returned to elite coaching with great success. Lawrence was a one of the Australian Olympic swimming team coaches for the Los Angeles in 1984
, Seoul in 1988
and Barcelona in 1992
. His best known protégés include, Steve Holland, Tracey Wickham
, Jon Sieben
and Duncan Armstrong
. His Olympic coaching achievements include 10 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals from swimmers he has directly assisted. Swimmers he has coached boast 23 world records. He also coached Australian swimmers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
at Brisbane and the 1986 Commonwealth Games
at Edinburgh.
Lawrence involvement with Australian Olympic swimming continued at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with a brief to unite, inspire, motivate and relax the entire team. He has legendary success in securing non-existent tickets to enable Australian athletes to attend events in support of fellow Australians. His personal best is smuggling 150 athletes into the Australia vs United States basketball game when he actually only had 20 tickets.
and community service advertising, the program runs nationally. He has researched, documented and developed a program which is now internationally recognised
Lawrence is available as a motivational speaker.
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
), is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
. He was also an Australia national rugby union team
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
member in 1964.
Early life
Lawrence's father, Alan 'Stumpy' Lawrence, worked as a publican during the war years in Townsville, QueenslandTownsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
. Afflicted by bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis is a disease state defined by localized, irreversible dilation of part of the bronchial tree caused by destruction of the muscle and elastic tissue. It is classified as an obstructive lung disease, along with emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, and cystic fibrosis...
through his childhood Lawrence had part of his lung surgically removed
Pneumonectomy
A pneumonectomy is a surgical procedure to remove a lung. Removal of just one lobe of the lung is specifically referred to as a lobectomy, and that of a segment of the lung as a wedge resection .-Indications:...
, and was advised to pursue swimming in order to improve his remaining lung function. This prompted Lawrence's father to change jobs to become the manager of the Tobruk Pool
Tobruk Memorial Baths
The Tobruk Memorial Baths in Townsville, Australia is a complex of outdoor swimming pools operated by the Townsville City Council. It is located on The Strand, in the beachside suburb of North Ward.-Facilities:...
, on Townsville's foreshore. During 1956 and 1960 the Tobruk Pool was the training venue for the Australian Olympic Team. Greats like Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser AO, MBE is an Australian champion swimmer. She is one of only two swimmers to win the same Olympic event three times – in her case the 100 meters freestyle....
, Lorraine Crapp
Lorraine Crapp
Lorraine Crapp is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. She competed in two Olympic Games — the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics. She won two Olympic gold medals in 1956...
, Jon Henricks
Jon Henricks
John Malcolm Henricks started his swimming career as a distance swimmer, scoring his first real successes in 1952 when he came in 3rd in the Australian 1500 meters, 2nd in the 800, and won the 400 meters. The distance work proved too arduous, perhaps due to a prolonged ear infection that kept...
, John Konrads
John Konrads
John Konrads is an retired Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won the 1500 m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In his career, he set 26 individual world records, and after his swimming career ended, was the Australasian director of L'Oréal, as well as campaigning...
, Ilsa Konrads
Ilsa Konrads
Ilsa Konrads was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won silver in the 4x100 m freestyle relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In her career, she set 12 individual world records, and after her swimming career ended, was the Australasian editor of Belle...
, Murray Rose
Murray Rose
Iain Murray Rose AM was born on 6 January 1939 in Nairn, Scotland, but he moved to Australia with his family at an early age after World War II. He took up swimming as a boy and was an Olympic Games champion at age 17....
, David Theile
David Theile
David Egmont Theile , was an Australian backstroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won consecutive gold medals in the 100 m backstroke at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, the only Australian to do so...
and John Devitt
John Devitt
John Thomas Devitt was an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, who won a gold medal in the 100 m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He won in controversial circumstances, being awarded the gold medal despite the timekeepers recording a slower time than the silver medallist...
were some of the many athletes who trained there. Lawrence states:
And it was there that I got my real passion and love for swimming... ...'56 was just a magic time for me, as a young fella. And when I wasn't down amongst the athletes, asking for their autograph, then I was up there sitting on the balcony, hands over the edge of the concrete building just peering down into the water, watching Dawn Fraser, Murray Rose, Jon Conrads, David Tyler, Lorraine Crapp - they just keep coming - Kevin Berry. The names, the Olympic champions, and to sit up there one night, one night in Townsville when they had the last carnival before they were to go away and see 13 world records in one night, it's just etched indelibly into my memories, you know. It's just...fantastic.
Lawrence's parents separated later in the 1950s, and Lawrence moved with his mother to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. He attended St Laurence's College
St Laurence's College
St Laurence's College is an independent, Roman Catholic school for boys located in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1915...
and then Kelvin Grove Teachers College
Kelvin Grove Teachers College
Kelvin Grove Teachers' College established 1961 provides courses in primary and secondary teacher education. It established from its predecessor the Queensland Teachers' Training College....
. He played Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
to get a scholarship to be a Phys Ed
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
teacher, which led to his selection for the 1964 international tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Swim Coach
For health reasons Lawrence moved back to Townsville and began to establish himself as a swim coach. During this time he made a study tour to see Mark SpitzMark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....
's coach and learn from his training regimen. He moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to take over as swim coach from Don Talbot
Don Talbot
Don Talbot OBE is an Olympic swimming coach from Australia. He has coached national teams for Canada and Australia.-Canada:Since the 1950s Talbot has coached Olympic champions and World Record holders for a thirty year period...
at the Hurstville Club. He inherited from Talbot the responsibility for young Stephen Holland
Stephen Holland
Stephen Roy Holland OAM is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal...
, whom he guided to a world record and world championship in 1972. Lawrence then took a hiatus from swim coaching in 1975 to support his wife (and former swimmer) Jocelyn, after the birth of his daughter Jane.
Lawrence returned to elite coaching with great success. Lawrence was a one of the Australian Olympic swimming team coaches for the Los Angeles in 1984
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
, Seoul in 1988
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
and Barcelona in 1992
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
. His best known protégés include, Steve Holland, Tracey Wickham
Tracey Wickham
Tracey Lee Wickham MBE OAM is an Australian former middle distance world champion swimmer. Despite her success in the pool, Wickham has battled financial hardship and personal tragedy throughout her life....
, Jon Sieben
Jon Sieben
Jonathan Scott Sieben is an Australian former butterfly swimmer active in the 1980s, who won gold in the 200 m butterfly at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics....
and Duncan Armstrong
Duncan Armstrong
Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong, OAM, is a former Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist.Armstrong was a freestyle swimmer in international competition during the 1980s, who won gold in the 200-metre freestyle at the 1988 Seoul Olympics...
. His Olympic coaching achievements include 10 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals from swimmers he has directly assisted. Swimmers he has coached boast 23 world records. He also coached Australian swimmers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
1982 Commonwealth Games
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September–9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the...
at Brisbane and the 1986 Commonwealth Games
1986 Commonwealth Games
The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland for the second time. The Games were held from 24 July-2 August 1986.-Organisation and Controversy:...
at Edinburgh.
Lawrence involvement with Australian Olympic swimming continued at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with a brief to unite, inspire, motivate and relax the entire team. He has legendary success in securing non-existent tickets to enable Australian athletes to attend events in support of fellow Australians. His personal best is smuggling 150 athletes into the Australia vs United States basketball game when he actually only had 20 tickets.
Other interests
In 1988, Lawrence launched a Kids Alive Drowning Prevention Campaign to combat the problem of accidental death by drowning in the under five age group. With support from the Federal GovernmentGovernment of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
and community service advertising, the program runs nationally. He has researched, documented and developed a program which is now internationally recognised
Lawrence is available as a motivational speaker.