Ian O'Brien - Olympic Gold

Olympic Gold

Arriving in Tokyo, O'Brien was nominated in the 200 m event and the medley relay; the 100 m event was yet to be included in the Olympic program. The favourites for the 200 m breaststroke were Chet Jastremski of the United States—the world record holder—and Georgy Prokopenko of the Soviet Union. Gathercole had modelled O'Brien's technique on that of Jastremski, attempting to refine and smoothen it. Years after O'Brien retired, Harry Gallagher said that "Ian O'Brien has an almost faultless style and is a great example for Australian youngsters to copy". O'Brien was known for the strength that his torso generated, and his powerful kicks; sports science experiments showed that his vertical jump was especially strong. O'Brien was also known for his efficient start. He often gained a lead of approximately a metre from his dive and underwater glide at the start, and was able to complete 50 m in 31.0 s.

During the final training sessions in Tokyo, Talbot organised time trials for the Australians, which were held in front of opposition swimmers in an attempt to intimidate them. O'Brien posted a time of 2 min 33 s, which Talbot felt had a negative psychological effect on O'Brien's opponents. When competition started, O'Brien swam an Olympic record to win the first heat by 2.0 s. He posted a time of 2 min 31.4 s, reducing the previous Olympic mark by 5.8 s, an indication of how much the world record had fallen in the preceding four years. However, in the next heat, Egon Henninger of Germany immediately lowered the mark, and by the end of the heats, O'Brien was the fourth fastest qualifier for the semifinals, with both Prokopenko and Jastremski posting faster times. O'Brien lowered Henninger's Olympic record by winning the second semifinal in a time of 2 min 28.7 s, after Jastremski had won the first semifinal in a time that was 3.4 s slower than O'Brien. This made O'Brien the fastest qualifier for the final, with a time that was 1.0 s faster than the next qualifier Prokopenko, who came second to him in the second semifinal. O'Brien planned to swim the race at an even pace and record even splits for the first and second half of the race. He was mindful of not chasing Jastremski, who was known for an aggressive opening style, which resulted in a faster first half.

In the final, Jastremski attacked from the outset as expected, while O'Brien raced with a characteristically even pace. After being fourth at the halfway mark behind Jastremski, Prokopenko and Henninger, O'Brien panicked and accelerated in the third 50 m and overtook Jastremski, leaving the American in fourth place. He then moved past Henninger, before overtaking Prokopenko. O'Brien's acceleration in the third meant that he tired at the end, but he had enough energy to fend off Prokopenko in the late stages to win the gold medal in a new world record time of 2 min 27.8 s, a margin of 0.4 s, with Jastremski a further 1.4 s in arrears. O'Brien had reduced his personal best time by more than four seconds during the Olympics to claim an upset win.

The Australian coaches rested O'Brien for the heats of the 4 × 100 m medley relay; Peter Tonkin swam the breaststroke leg instead. It turned out to be a close call for the Australians, as they finished fourth in their heat and qualified seventh fastest, only 1.2 s from elimination. In the final, O'Brien was brought into the team to combine with Peter Reynolds, Berry and Dickson. At the end of Reynolds' backstroke leg, Australia were sixth, 3.4 s behind the American leaders. O'Brien dived in and completed his leg in 1 min 7.8 s, a breaststroke split bettered by only Henninger and Prokopenko. This pulled Australia up to fourth position, 1.7 s in arrears of the Americans at the halfway mark. Australia progressed further to finish third behind the United States and Germany in a time of 4 min 2.3 s, missing the silver by 0.7 s.