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Peter Evans (swimmer)
Encyclopedia
Peter Maxwell Evans is a former Australian breaststroke
swimmer of the 1980s, who won four Olympic medals, most notably a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics
as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet
. He also won consecutive bronze medals in the 100 m breaststroke at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics
.
The son of prominent Western Australian businessman and politician Max Evans, Evans had a late start to his swimming career, making his debut at the Australian championships aged 17. Despite placing second in the 100 m breaststroke, he was not selected for Australia, and instead travelled to the United Kingdom to train under David Haller. During this period, he quickly improved his times and rose from outside the top 200 into the top 25 in the world rankings. Evans returned to Australia in 1980 and qualified for the Olympics in both the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke. A sprinter, he won the 100 m in an Australian record time and showed a preference for shorter events, which required less training mileage. Evans gained a reputation for often doing fewer training laps than his coach asked of him. Having rebuffed Australian government
pressure to boycott the Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Evans won bronze in the 100 m breaststroke. His career peak came in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, when he outsplit his opponents in the breaststroke leg of the relay, bringing Australia into contention for its eventual win, which remains the only time that the United States has not won the event
at Olympic level.
After the Olympics, Evans moved to the United States to study business and compete for the University of Arizona
. He was less successful in the short-course format used at college level, which placed more reliance on efficient turns. Evans returned to Australia for the 1982 Commonwealth Games
in Brisbane
, winning silver in the 100 m breaststroke and gold in the medley relay. He competed in his second Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, winning bronze in both the 100 m breaststroke and the medley relay. Evans retired after missing selection for the 1986 Commonwealth Games
and attempted to follow his father into politics. He unsuccessfully stood as the candidate for the Liberal Party of Australia
in the electoral district of Perth
at the 1986 state election, before pursuing a career in business.
, Western Australia. His father Max was a chartered accountant who went on to become a politician for the Liberal Party in the state's Upper House
. Max was the President of the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a senior partner in the accounting firm founded by Sir Charles Court
, then premier of Western Australia
, who was credited with modernising the state and transforming its lucrative mining industry. Max was an honorary member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce
. The Evans family had a sporting pedigree. Max had been a state champion athletics sprinter at youth level and won a gold, a silver and three bronze medals as part of Western Australian relay teams at the Australian Championships. Evans' mother Barbara, a physiotherapist, was a capable swimmer and won a half-blue in netball
at the University of Western Australia
.
Evans attended the exclusive Scotch College
in Perth for his entire primary and high school years. He was initially a self-taught swimmer, having observed his father in the water. He recalled that "As I didn't like to get up early, I didn't get swim instruction until my sixth grade at Scotch College". Evans later trained and competed for the school swimming team in summer as well as the field hockey
team. Evans enjoyed success in all four strokes at school level, but was most proficient at breaststroke and chose to specialise in it, commenting that "I'd rather be good at one stroke than mediocre in four". Thereafter, he was undefeated in breaststroke at school level. Evans learned the "whip kick" from Ian Dickson, brother of Olympic freestyle swimming medallist David Dickson
. Evans later honed his endurance ability under Kevin Duff and his sprinting ability under Bernie Mulroy.
in London under David Haller, coach of future Olympic breaststroke gold medallist Duncan Goodhew
. Evans did so feeling that there was insufficient coaching support for breaststrokers in Australia. In three months of training in London, Evans had risen up the breaststroke rankings from outside the top 200 into the top 25. He returned to Australia and won selection in the national team for the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) World Cup
in Japan, before returning to London for more training.
Evans returned to Australia in 1980 to compete at the Australian Championships, which doubled as the Olympic trials. His sojourn in the United Kingdom meant that he was a virtual unknown in his home country. He set a national record in winning the 100 m breaststroke in a time of 1 m 4.80 s and also qualified for his less preferred 200 m event. During the Olympic training camp in Brisbane, the Australian coaches tried to get Evans to cover more mileage at training. Evans' teammates recalled him stopping during a pool session and emphatically proclaiming that "Work is a poor substitute for talent". In 2000, more than a decade after his retirement, he was still using this slogan. Evans was confident in his own training methods and refused to bend to the coaches. His teammate Mark Tonelli
said that Evans "knew what he was capable of and as far as he was concerned, he was capable of anything".
, was also the patron of the Australian Olympic Committee
, and significant political pressure came to bear on the athletes to boycott the Games. Evans' relay team-mate Tonelli believed that only the sportspeople would suffer from a boycott and that trade relations would continue unabated. He took a leadership role among the athletes to fight for their right to compete and publicise their cause among the Australian public. Evans was fully supportive of Tonelli's campaign, reflecting that "We were political tools, and the only ones to suffer would be us." He rhetorically asked: "Do you really think that if we didn't go someone would come up to us after the Games and pat us on the back for not going?"
Having arrived in Moscow, Evans' first event was the 100 m breaststroke, which the Soviets were favoured to win. Evans' former flat-mate and training partner Goodhew was another of the favourites. Evans placed equal first in his heat and advanced to the final as the fourth-fastest qualifer, along with Goodhew, two Soviets and fellow Australian Spencer. In a hard-fought final, Goodhew won the gold medal, while Evans narrowly missed out on silver, finishing 0.14 s behind the Soviet Union's Arsens Miskarovs to claim bronze in a time of 1 m 3.96 s. Evans was just 0.04 s ahead of Aleksandr Fyodorovsky, another swimmer from the host nation. Reflecting on the race, Evans felt that his lack of experience compared with Goodhew was a factor in his loss. Evans felt that Goodhew had "psyched [him] out". Evans was less successful in the 200 m—not his preferred distance. He came fourth in his heat in a time of 2 m 26.62 s, which saw him eliminated with the 12th-fastest time, some three seconds slower than what was needed to make the final.
, and their boycott had opened up the field in the event. In the five times the event had been contested, Australia's best result was a silver in the inaugural race. A bronze in 1964 was the only other medal success, and the 1976 edition of the medley relay had seen Australia eliminated in the heats. This time, Australia was regarded as a medal chance, but were not seen as the main threats—Sweden, Great Britain and the Soviet Union were the most favoured teams to win. The hosts' team included the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, and their butterflyer had come fifth. Later, their freestyler would place fourth. The British had Goodhew, the breaststroke gold medallist, while Sweden's butterflyer and backstroker had won their respective events and their freestyle swimmer would come second in the 100 m. On paper, Australia's team paled in comparison. Neil Brooks
, the freestyler, would come 14th overall after an asthma attack, and Evans was the only individual medallist in the corresponding individual event. Mark Kerry
had been eliminated in the backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer. Adding to the pressure was the fact that Australia had won no gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in any sport, and were yet to win one in Moscow, so the public were still awaiting their first victory since Munich in 1972
. Coming into the Olympics, Australia were ranked seventh out of the 13 competing countries.
Australia's prospects improved after the morning heats in which Sweden was disqualified. Evans took the opportunity to attempt to regain the psychological ascendancy from Goodhew, confronting him privately and stating that "we will win it". Evans felt that his posturing had shaken Goodhew. Tonelli, the eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, convened the team as its de facto leader. He asked his team-mates to commit to swimming their legs in a certain time; Kerry vowed to swim the backstroke in 57 s, Evans the breaststroke in 63 s flat, Tonelli the butterfly in 54 s and Brooks promised to anchor the team in 49.8 s, even though he had never gone faster than 51 s. Tonelli named the foursome as the Quietly Confident Quartet, and they exhibited a quiet confidence as they lined up for the race.
Kerry led off in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time of 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s to put Australia in second place, almost level with the host nation at the halfway mark. Evans had out-split Goodhew by 0.8 s and Miskarov by 0.5 s. Tonelli then swam his leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster than he had ever done before. Tonelli began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre of the lead by the end of his leg. Brooks then performed a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart. He had drawn level by the halfway mark and made a superior turn to take the lead. The Soviet freestyler pulled level at the 25 m mark before Brooks again sprinted away to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his teammates. The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first-ever win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women. The team then made a celebratory dive into the pool and were interviewed at the poolside. Evans said that the relay "was unbelievable, but it was all so logical. I was so deliriously happy that I couldn't stop talking."
Upon returning to Australia, Evans and Brooks were raucously received in their hometown of Perth. They were denied a civic reception by the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth
, who supported an Olympic boycott over Afghanistan, but the Lord Mayor of Fremantle
instead hosted a reception. Evans received congratulations from Prime Minister Fraser. In 2000, Evans quipped that "We're the Vietnam vets of the Olympic movement". In the same year, Evans and the other members of the quartet were each awarded the Australian Sports Medal
for their victory in Moscow.
and he went there to study and swim after the Olympics. Evans was to spend five years in Arizona studying for a BA in business. He regarded his American experience as a crucial component of his development: "I got a good education, but above all I learned about myself". The American laissez faire attitude—which revolved around the individual's self-determination—sat well with Evans' outlook on life. He often clashed with Arizona swimming coach Dick Jochums, who was regarded as a hard taskmaster. The pair clashed over the training regime; Jochums insisted that Evans increase his mileage, something that the student strongly resisted. Evans was an All-American for four years, but he struggled in the short-course pools used in the college system. Short-course pools—which are only half the length—place more emphasis on a swimmer's turning ability, which was the Australian's weakness. Despite his ranking as third in the world at the Olympics, which are swum in long-course pools, Evans was ranked only fifth in the college system.
The Australian Swimming Union
(ASU) did not recognise times that had been recorded in short-course pools in the United States, so Evans was forced to return for the Australian Championships to qualify for the 1982 Commonwealth Games
held in Brisbane. Despite winning neither of the breaststroke events, Evans successfully earned selection and lined up at the Commonwealth Games in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke and the 4 × 100 m medley relay. In his favoured 100 m event, Evans won bronze, having been led home by Adrian Moorhouse
of England and Canada's Victor Davis
. In the 200 m event, Evans came fourth, almost four seconds behind the victorious Davis. He then combined with David Orbell, Jon Sieben
and Brooks to win the medley relay in a Commonwealth Games record time. Canada reached the wall far ahead of Australia, but were disqualified for a premature changeover.
in Los Angeles, and returned to Arizona to continue training. His Olympic campaign was placed in jeopardy when the ASU threatened to remove Evans from the team for skipping their training camp in Australia. The threat was withdrawn after Evans' father confronted the ASU and pointed out that his son was training, although in a different location. Before the Games, Evans joined the Australians for their final training camp at Stanford University
in California. Evans arrived in Los Angeles with the same program as in Moscow; he entered both breaststroke events and the medley relay. Evans started brightly to win his heat of the 100 m breaststroke in an Olympic record time of 1 m 2.87 s. His new mark did not last long—John Moffet
broke it in a later heat to relegate Evans to the second-fastest qualifying time.
Nevertheless, their opponents were able to lift and the final saw Steve Lundquist
of the United States set a new world record of 1 m 1.65 s; Evans took bronze, 0.98 s behind silver medallist Davis. Evans was unable to maintain the pace that he had set in the heats, clocking a time 0.10 s slower. In the 200 m, Evans came second in his heat but was not fast enough to make the final, swimming 1.47 s slower than the slowest qualifier to finish 17th. The final event for Evans was the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Evans was joined by Kerry, while Glenn Buchanan
and Mark Stockwell
swum the butterfly and freestyle respectively. The Americans were overwhelming favourites, boasting the gold medallists in three of the respective individual events. The hosts easily won the gold by almost four seconds; Evans and the Australians were third, relegated from the silver medal by just 0.02 s by the Canadian team, having been in the bronze medal position at every change. Evans recorded the second-fastest breaststroke split, slower than Lundquist, but quicker than the rest, including Davis.
After the Olympics, Evans returned to Arizona and resumed his studies. In 1985, he represented Australia at the World University Games in Kobe
, Japan. The following year, he attempted to qualify for the 1986 Commonwealth Games
in Edinburgh
after only ten days training. He made the qualifying time, but was omitted. Evans later stated that he felt his admission of having only trained for ten days had lowered his standing in the eyes of the selectors. As a result of being overlooked, Evans retired from competitive swimming.
. He contested the seat in the state election, but lost despite a four percent swing against the Australian Labor Party
. Evans then travelled around the world studying international market systems, before working in fund management and international investment. He said of his swimming career: "It's not that serious. It's only a race. There's a lot more to be happy and proud for and proud of."
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
swimmer of the 1980s, who won four Olympic medals, most notably a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet
Quietly Confident Quartet
The Quietly Confident Quartet was the self-given name of the Australian men's 4 × 100 m medley relay swimming team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow...
. He also won consecutive bronze medals in the 100 m breaststroke at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics
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...
.
The son of prominent Western Australian businessman and politician Max Evans, Evans had a late start to his swimming career, making his debut at the Australian championships aged 17. Despite placing second in the 100 m breaststroke, he was not selected for Australia, and instead travelled to the United Kingdom to train under David Haller. During this period, he quickly improved his times and rose from outside the top 200 into the top 25 in the world rankings. Evans returned to Australia in 1980 and qualified for the Olympics in both the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke. A sprinter, he won the 100 m in an Australian record time and showed a preference for shorter events, which required less training mileage. Evans gained a reputation for often doing fewer training laps than his coach asked of him. Having rebuffed Australian government
Government 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...
pressure to boycott the Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Evans won bronze in the 100 m breaststroke. His career peak came in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, when he outsplit his opponents in the breaststroke leg of the relay, bringing Australia into contention for its eventual win, which remains the only time that the United States has not won the event
United States at the Olympics
The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games, except the 1980 Summer Olympics, which it boycotted.The United States Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee for the United States....
at Olympic level.
After the Olympics, Evans moved to the United States to study business and compete for the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. He was less successful in the short-course format used at college level, which placed more reliance on efficient turns. Evans returned to Australia for 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...
in 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...
, winning silver in the 100 m breaststroke and gold in the medley relay. He competed in his second Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, winning bronze in both the 100 m breaststroke and the medley relay. Evans retired after missing selection for 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:...
and attempted to follow his father into politics. He unsuccessfully stood as the candidate for the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
in the electoral district of Perth
Electoral district of Perth
The Electoral district of Perth is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Perth is named for the capital city of Western Australia whose central business district falls within its borders. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member...
at the 1986 state election, before pursuing a career in business.
Early years
The second of four children, Evans was born into an affluent family in PerthPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia. His father Max was a chartered accountant who went on to become a politician for the Liberal Party in the state's Upper House
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
. Max was the President of the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a senior partner in the accounting firm founded by Sir Charles Court
Charles Court
Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, was a Western Australian politician, 21st Premier of Western Australia and member for the seat of Nedlands for the Liberal Party for nearly 30 years.-Early life:...
, then premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, who was credited with modernising the state and transforming its lucrative mining industry. Max was an honorary member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been the peak council of Australian business associations for 105 years and traces its heritage back to Australia’s first chamber of commerce in 1826.Its motto is “Leading Australian Business.”...
. The Evans family had a sporting pedigree. Max had been a state champion athletics sprinter at youth level and won a gold, a silver and three bronze medals as part of Western Australian relay teams at the Australian Championships. Evans' mother Barbara, a physiotherapist, was a capable swimmer and won a half-blue in netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
at the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
.
Evans attended the exclusive Scotch College
Scotch College, Perth
Scotch College , is one of Australia's leading independent schools for boys, situated in Swanbourne, Western Australia, Australia. The school is a member of the Public Schools Association and is now a Uniting Church school, although it was founded in 1897 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia...
in Perth for his entire primary and high school years. He was initially a self-taught swimmer, having observed his father in the water. He recalled that "As I didn't like to get up early, I didn't get swim instruction until my sixth grade at Scotch College". Evans later trained and competed for the school swimming team in summer as well as the field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
team. Evans enjoyed success in all four strokes at school level, but was most proficient at breaststroke and chose to specialise in it, commenting that "I'd rather be good at one stroke than mediocre in four". Thereafter, he was undefeated in breaststroke at school level. Evans learned the "whip kick" from Ian Dickson, brother of Olympic freestyle swimming medallist David Dickson
David Dickson (swimmer)
David Dickson was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, who won three bronze medals in freestyle and medley relay events at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Rome and Tokyo respectively.-1960 Summer Olympics:Dickson was selected to make his international debut at...
. Evans later honed his endurance ability under Kevin Duff and his sprinting ability under Bernie Mulroy.
National debut
In November 1978, Evans broke the Western Australian record for the 100 m breaststroke during his final year at school. He and his father decided that he should step up his swimming career, and Evans entered the 1979 Australian Championships in Perth. Despite only four weeks of solid training leading up to the meet, Evans came second to Lindsay Spencer. However, Evans was omitted from the Australian squad that toured Britain because he was an unknown swimmer. After the meet, Evans vowed to become an elite swimmer and Olympian. A week later, Evans travelled to England to train at Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace National Sports Centre
The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace, in the former parkland and also usurping part of the former grand prix circuit.It was...
in London under David Haller, coach of future Olympic breaststroke gold medallist Duncan Goodhew
Duncan Goodhew
Duncan Alexander Goodhew MBE is a British swimming athlete. After swimming competitively in America as a collegian at North Carolina State University, he was an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain and won Olympic gold and bronze medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.-Biography:Goodhew...
. Evans did so feeling that there was insufficient coaching support for breaststrokers in Australia. In three months of training in London, Evans had risen up the breaststroke rankings from outside the top 200 into the top 25. He returned to Australia and won selection in the national team for the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) World Cup
FINA Swimming World Cup
The FINA Swimming World Cup is an international series of short course swimming meets organized by FINA, the International Federation for swimming...
in Japan, before returning to London for more training.
Evans returned to Australia in 1980 to compete at the Australian Championships, which doubled as the Olympic trials. His sojourn in the United Kingdom meant that he was a virtual unknown in his home country. He set a national record in winning the 100 m breaststroke in a time of 1 m 4.80 s and also qualified for his less preferred 200 m event. During the Olympic training camp in Brisbane, the Australian coaches tried to get Evans to cover more mileage at training. Evans' teammates recalled him stopping during a pool session and emphatically proclaiming that "Work is a poor substitute for talent". In 2000, more than a decade after his retirement, he was still using this slogan. Evans was confident in his own training methods and refused to bend to the coaches. His teammate Mark Tonelli
Mark Tonelli
Mark Lyndon Tonelli is a former Australian backstroke, butterfly and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a makeshift butterfly swimmer in the self-named Quietly Confident Quartet...
said that Evans "knew what he was capable of and as far as he was concerned, he was capable of anything".
1980 Moscow Olympics
Having qualified to swim for Australia, another obstacle arose with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which resulted in a boycott of the Games by a large part of the Western world, led by the United States. The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm FraserMalcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
, was also the patron of the Australian Olympic Committee
Australian Olympic Committee
The Australian Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee in Australia for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds to send Australian competitors to Olympic events organised by the International Olympic Committee .-Background:The...
, and significant political pressure came to bear on the athletes to boycott the Games. Evans' relay team-mate Tonelli believed that only the sportspeople would suffer from a boycott and that trade relations would continue unabated. He took a leadership role among the athletes to fight for their right to compete and publicise their cause among the Australian public. Evans was fully supportive of Tonelli's campaign, reflecting that "We were political tools, and the only ones to suffer would be us." He rhetorically asked: "Do you really think that if we didn't go someone would come up to us after the Games and pat us on the back for not going?"
Having arrived in Moscow, Evans' first event was the 100 m breaststroke, which the Soviets were favoured to win. Evans' former flat-mate and training partner Goodhew was another of the favourites. Evans placed equal first in his heat and advanced to the final as the fourth-fastest qualifer, along with Goodhew, two Soviets and fellow Australian Spencer. In a hard-fought final, Goodhew won the gold medal, while Evans narrowly missed out on silver, finishing 0.14 s behind the Soviet Union's Arsens Miskarovs to claim bronze in a time of 1 m 3.96 s. Evans was just 0.04 s ahead of Aleksandr Fyodorovsky, another swimmer from the host nation. Reflecting on the race, Evans felt that his lack of experience compared with Goodhew was a factor in his loss. Evans felt that Goodhew had "psyched [him] out". Evans was less successful in the 200 m—not his preferred distance. He came fourth in his heat in a time of 2 m 26.62 s, which saw him eliminated with the 12th-fastest time, some three seconds slower than what was needed to make the final.
Relay victory
The 4 × 100 m medley relay was the focal point of Evans' Moscow campaign. The event had always been won by the United States since its inception at Olympic level in 1960Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 15 swimming events were contested, eight for men and seven for women. There was a total of 380 participants from 45 countries competing. For the first time, the 4×100 metres medley relay was contested...
, and their boycott had opened up the field in the event. In the five times the event had been contested, Australia's best result was a silver in the inaugural race. A bronze in 1964 was the only other medal success, and the 1976 edition of the medley relay had seen Australia eliminated in the heats. This time, Australia was regarded as a medal chance, but were not seen as the main threats—Sweden, Great Britain and the Soviet Union were the most favoured teams to win. The hosts' team included the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, and their butterflyer had come fifth. Later, their freestyler would place fourth. The British had Goodhew, the breaststroke gold medallist, while Sweden's butterflyer and backstroker had won their respective events and their freestyle swimmer would come second in the 100 m. On paper, Australia's team paled in comparison. Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks is a former Australian sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. Brooks was as much known for his swimming achievements as he was for disciplinary incidents...
, the freestyler, would come 14th overall after an asthma attack, and Evans was the only individual medallist in the corresponding individual event. Mark Kerry
Mark Kerry
Marcus "Mark" Anthony Kerry is a former Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the backstroker for the Quietly Confident Quartet...
had been eliminated in the backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer. Adding to the pressure was the fact that Australia had won no gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in any sport, and were yet to win one in Moscow, so the public were still awaiting their first victory since Munich in 1972
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
. Coming into the Olympics, Australia were ranked seventh out of the 13 competing countries.
Australia's prospects improved after the morning heats in which Sweden was disqualified. Evans took the opportunity to attempt to regain the psychological ascendancy from Goodhew, confronting him privately and stating that "we will win it". Evans felt that his posturing had shaken Goodhew. Tonelli, the eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, convened the team as its de facto leader. He asked his team-mates to commit to swimming their legs in a certain time; Kerry vowed to swim the backstroke in 57 s, Evans the breaststroke in 63 s flat, Tonelli the butterfly in 54 s and Brooks promised to anchor the team in 49.8 s, even though he had never gone faster than 51 s. Tonelli named the foursome as the Quietly Confident Quartet, and they exhibited a quiet confidence as they lined up for the race.
Kerry led off in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time of 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s to put Australia in second place, almost level with the host nation at the halfway mark. Evans had out-split Goodhew by 0.8 s and Miskarov by 0.5 s. Tonelli then swam his leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster than he had ever done before. Tonelli began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre of the lead by the end of his leg. Brooks then performed a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart. He had drawn level by the halfway mark and made a superior turn to take the lead. The Soviet freestyler pulled level at the 25 m mark before Brooks again sprinted away to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his teammates. The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first-ever win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women. The team then made a celebratory dive into the pool and were interviewed at the poolside. Evans said that the relay "was unbelievable, but it was all so logical. I was so deliriously happy that I couldn't stop talking."
Upon returning to Australia, Evans and Brooks were raucously received in their hometown of Perth. They were denied a civic reception by the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth
City of Perth
The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth Metropolitan Area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government body is commonly known as Perth City Council. The city covers the Perth central business district and surrounding suburbs...
, who supported an Olympic boycott over Afghanistan, but the Lord Mayor of Fremantle
City of Fremantle
The City of Fremantle is a Local Government Area in South Metropolitan Perth. The City covers an area of , and lies about southwest of the Perth central business district.-History:...
instead hosted a reception. Evans received congratulations from Prime Minister Fraser. In 2000, Evans quipped that "We're the Vietnam vets of the Olympic movement". In the same year, Evans and the other members of the quartet were each awarded the Australian Sports Medal
Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal was an award given during 2000 to recognise achievements in Australian sport.Recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, office holders, and people who maintained sporting facilities and services. Over 18,000 Medals were...
for their victory in Moscow.
US college career
A few weeks before the Olympics, Evans had signed a deal with the University of ArizonaUniversity of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
and he went there to study and swim after the Olympics. Evans was to spend five years in Arizona studying for a BA in business. He regarded his American experience as a crucial component of his development: "I got a good education, but above all I learned about myself". The American laissez faire attitude—which revolved around the individual's self-determination—sat well with Evans' outlook on life. He often clashed with Arizona swimming coach Dick Jochums, who was regarded as a hard taskmaster. The pair clashed over the training regime; Jochums insisted that Evans increase his mileage, something that the student strongly resisted. Evans was an All-American for four years, but he struggled in the short-course pools used in the college system. Short-course pools—which are only half the length—place more emphasis on a swimmer's turning ability, which was the Australian's weakness. Despite his ranking as third in the world at the Olympics, which are swum in long-course pools, Evans was ranked only fifth in the college system.
The Australian Swimming Union
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body currently has approximately 90,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators and volunteers...
(ASU) did not recognise times that had been recorded in short-course pools in the United States, so Evans was forced to return for the Australian Championships to qualify for 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...
held in Brisbane. Despite winning neither of the breaststroke events, Evans successfully earned selection and lined up at the Commonwealth Games in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke and the 4 × 100 m medley relay. In his favoured 100 m event, Evans won bronze, having been led home by Adrian Moorhouse
Adrian Moorhouse
Adrian David Moorhouse MBE is a British former swimmer who dominated British swimming in the late 1980s. He won the 100 m breaststroke gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. Since then Moorhouse, a former pupil of Bradford Grammar School, has translated his sporting success to a successful career...
of England and Canada's Victor Davis
Victor Davis
Victor Davis, CM was a Canadian Olympic and world champion swimmer, a well known breaststroker from Canada. He also enjoyed success in the individual medley and the butterfly.-Biography:...
. In the 200 m event, Evans came fourth, almost four seconds behind the victorious Davis. He then combined with David Orbell, 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 Brooks to win the medley relay in a Commonwealth Games record time. Canada reached the wall far ahead of Australia, but were disqualified for a premature changeover.
International farewell
After the games, Evans returned to the United States to continue his studies and collegiate swimming career. Before the 1984 Olympics, Evans travelled to Hong Kong to train with Haller, who was coaching the British colony's swimming team. Evans revitalised himself under his favourite coach and returned to his old style of sprinting. However, he twisted his ankle later in Perth and missed some training time. He won the Australian 100 m breaststroke championship to qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics1984 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...
in Los Angeles, and returned to Arizona to continue training. His Olympic campaign was placed in jeopardy when the ASU threatened to remove Evans from the team for skipping their training camp in Australia. The threat was withdrawn after Evans' father confronted the ASU and pointed out that his son was training, although in a different location. Before the Games, Evans joined the Australians for their final training camp at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in California. Evans arrived in Los Angeles with the same program as in Moscow; he entered both breaststroke events and the medley relay. Evans started brightly to win his heat of the 100 m breaststroke in an Olympic record time of 1 m 2.87 s. His new mark did not last long—John Moffet
John Moffet (swimmer)
John Moffet is a retired breaststroke swimmer from the United States, who competed for his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He had his best year in 1985, winning three gold medals at both the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the Summer...
broke it in a later heat to relegate Evans to the second-fastest qualifying time.
Nevertheless, their opponents were able to lift and the final saw Steve Lundquist
Steve Lundquist
Stephen Lundquist is a former swimmer from the United States, who was a member of the Olympic Team when the USA boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics...
of the United States set a new world record of 1 m 1.65 s; Evans took bronze, 0.98 s behind silver medallist Davis. Evans was unable to maintain the pace that he had set in the heats, clocking a time 0.10 s slower. In the 200 m, Evans came second in his heat but was not fast enough to make the final, swimming 1.47 s slower than the slowest qualifier to finish 17th. The final event for Evans was the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Evans was joined by Kerry, while Glenn Buchanan
Glenn Buchanan
Glenn Buchanan was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1980s who won two bronze medals in the 100 m butterfly and the 4 × 100 m medley relay, at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics....
and Mark Stockwell
Mark Stockwell
Marcus William "Mark" Stockwell is a former Australian sprint freestyle swimmer. Stockwell won three medals in freestyle swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics....
swum the butterfly and freestyle respectively. The Americans were overwhelming favourites, boasting the gold medallists in three of the respective individual events. The hosts easily won the gold by almost four seconds; Evans and the Australians were third, relegated from the silver medal by just 0.02 s by the Canadian team, having been in the bronze medal position at every change. Evans recorded the second-fastest breaststroke split, slower than Lundquist, but quicker than the rest, including Davis.
After the Olympics, Evans returned to Arizona and resumed his studies. In 1985, he represented Australia at the World University Games in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Japan. The following year, he attempted to qualify for 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:...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
after only ten days training. He made the qualifying time, but was omitted. Evans later stated that he felt his admission of having only trained for ten days had lowered his standing in the eyes of the selectors. As a result of being overlooked, Evans retired from competitive swimming.
Later life
In early 1986, Evans won preselection for the Liberal Party in the electoral district of PerthElectoral district of Perth
The Electoral district of Perth is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Perth is named for the capital city of Western Australia whose central business district falls within its borders. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member...
. He contested the seat in the state election, but lost despite a four percent swing against the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. Evans then travelled around the world studying international market systems, before working in fund management and international investment. He said of his swimming career: "It's not that serious. It's only a race. There's a lot more to be happy and proud for and proud of."