Forbes Carlile was the only Australian to have featured at the Olympics as a coach before taking part as an athlete.
Advertisement
He counted Shane Gould, Karen Moras, Gail Neall and Terry Gathercole among his charges.
He coached Shane Gould from the age of 13 and was one of the first to advocate swimming for babies, based on his extensive research of Scandavian and other programs.
Sadly it was only a few days ago, on July 28, that the Australian Olympic Committee confirmed Carlile as their oldest living Olympian after the passing of 1956 fencer Helen Joy Hordon.
Carlile was credited with developing elite training techniques in her era, starting Australia’s first commercial swimming school and coaching 52 swimmers to an elite worldwide level – a collection of athletes, including Shane Gould, who combined for 12 Olympic gold medals and set 31 individual world records.
Legendary Australian swimming coach and the country’s oldest Olympian, Forbes Carlile, has died aged 95.
He represented Australia in modern pentathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Games and is the only Australian to have coached at an Olympics before later competing in the Games as an athlete.
Swimmers coached by Carlile secured 12 Olympic medals, including five golds, and 31 individual world records.
His book, Forbes Carlile on Swimming, was the first modern book on competitive swimming with its study of tapering and the historical development of the crawl.
It was also at Palm Beach that Forbes first introduced the pace clock. That garage was the start of year-round swimming lessons and the back of the Carlile family house at continues to teach children to swim five decades later, including the great grandchildren of his original students.
Forbes is survived by his wife Ursula, who in her own right is considered a legend of both Australian and worldwide swimming.
He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977.
Advertisement
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame chairman, John Bertrand AO, spoke highly of Carlile.
