John Devitt
 Australian
freestyle champion and Olympian
‘Swimming has been my life, my devotion,
my passion and my dedication. Since the age of six, when I began chasing my
friends around Granville baths, I’ve lived and grown in the sport.’
John Devitt (born 1937) grew up in Blaxcell
Street, Granville and spent every afternoon at the pool. From the age of seven,
John was coached by schoolteacher Tom Penny, then with Clyde Amateur Swimming
Club. John also spent ten years participating in winter training sessions at
White Bay and Bunnerong power stations.
John Devitt’s achievements include 14 world
records (four individual and ten team) and 13 Australian titles (three
individual and ten team). John won his first Western Sydney championship aged
nine, his first State championship at eleven, and his first Australian
championship at fifteen. In a swim meet here in 1956, Devitt won his first race
against champion Jon Henricks, in the 55yd freestyle event.
Devitt considers his most rewarding
experience was being made swim team captain at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Devitt won the gold medal for the 4 x 200m freestyle relay, and a silver medal
in the 100m freestyle. He won a further three gold medals at the 1958 Empire and
Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Devitt was
again team captain, and won gold in the 100m freestyle, and bronze in the 4 x
200m freestyle relay.
After retiring from competition Devitt has
been actively involved in the administration of Australian swimming for over
forty years, and has attended almost every Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games
since 1956.
Images
1. Sport magazine, December 1957
2. John Devitt during the 1956 Melbourne
Olympics. Newspix
3. John Devitt swimming at the 1960
Australian championships and Olympic trials, North Sydney, February 1960.
Newspix
4. John Devitt at the Australian
championships and Olympic trials, North Sydney pool, February 1960. Australian
Photographic Agency photograph, State Library of NSW.
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