Bob Windle - International Farewell

International Farewell

In 1967, Windle retired, but made a comeback to compete in the shorter distances after being lobbied by Talbot. In 1968, Windle anchored Indiana's 880 yd freestyle relay to victory at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, sealing what would be the first of six consecutive men's team titles for the university. He then competed in the Australian Championships for the first time in four years. Although he did not win any individual events, he was part of New South Wales' winning quartets in the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. Windle was appointed the captain of the men's Olympic swimming team, gaining selection for the 100 m and 200 m freestyle events and the respective freestyle relays. He was not selected for the 1500 m freestyle, ending the defence of his Olympic title before the team had reached Mexico City.

In the 100 m freestyle, Windle came second in his heat in a time of 54.8 s, making him the sixth fastest qualifier for the semifinals. He improved his time to 54.6 s in the semifinals, but this placed him only 11th and he missed the final by 0.5 s. In the 200 m freestyle, Windle came second in his heat behind Wenden and scraped into the final by 0.3 s as the seventh fastest qualifier. He improved his time by 0.1 s in the final to finish sixth in 2 min 0.9 s. Wenden won both events. After the 200 m final, Wenden lost consciousness due to exhaustion and sank underwater. Wenden was pulled from the water and saved after Windle noticed the incident.

In the 4 × 100 m freestyle, Windle combined with Wenden, Robert Cusack and Greg Rogers to win bronze behind the United States and the Soviet Union. Australia used the same team and swimming order in both the heats and finals, with Windle doing the third leg. Australia came second in their heat behind the United States and qualified third overall, and the Soviet Union were the second fastest. It was a similar story in the final; Australia were third at every change. Despite Wenden anchoring the Australians with the fastest split among all 32 swimmers in the race, the Australians missed the silver medal by just 0.5 s. In the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, Windle won a silver along with Wenden, Rogers and Graham White. The quartet won their heat and qualified fastest, while the Americans qualified second with their second-choice team. However, using their full-strength team in the final, the Americans won by 1.4 s. Australia were 2.5 s behind at the halfway point of the race, but the Americans were able to hold on, despite the gains made by Windle and Wenden in the last two legs.

Windle retired after the Games, noting that "I have swum to that point when I could hardly lift myself out of the water. I have seen John Konrads to that point also. I would always give 110%. There is no substitute for hard and honest work". Windle was usually regarded as the fittest and hardest-working member of the Australian swimming team. In retirement, Windle stayed in the United States for a few more years, working for Allis-Chalmers, an agricultural equipment corporation. He returned home after being transferred to the Australian division of the firm's operations. Windle was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1987 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1990.