Most gold medals australia by year
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Frank Beaurepaire
Australian swimmer, politician and businessman
Sir Francis Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire (13 May 1891 – 29 May 1956) was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.[1]
He was also a decorated politician and businessman, serving for ten years in the Victorian Legislative Council and as Lord Mayor of Melbourne and building a multimillion-dollar tyre business empire, Beaurepaires.
Early life
Beaurepaire was born to Francis Edmund de Beaurepaire, a cable tram conductor, and Mary Edith Inman. Growing up in Melbourne, Beaurepaire was educated at Albert Park State School and Wesley College.[2]
He had his first swimming lesson at the age of four, when his father dropped him into the sea water baths at South Melbourne with a rope tied around his waist. He often practised in the sea, close to where effluent was ejected into Port Phillip Bay. Later, when he had earned more money, he pai
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Sir Francis Beaurepaire
Sir Francis Beaurepaire (1891-1956), Olympic swimmer, businessman and civic leader, won his first Victorian swimming titles in 1906, following up with three national titles in 1908. Having gone to England to compete for Australia at the London Olympics in 1908, he trained in appalling conditions, without official support, to win the English half-mile and mile championships before competing with influenza to win Olympic silver in the 400 m and bronze in the 1500m. By 1910, his great year, he had twelve Australian championships to his credit. On a European tour he set world records for 300 yards and 200m, 300m and 500m, and won seven English titles, six in record time. For these and other feats he received the Helms Athletic Foundation of America award for Athlete of the Year. Having served in World War 1, he was invalided out in 1918 with trench fever. For a time he was barred from amateur swimming competition on the basis that he was a professional swimming instructor; however, he returned to competition in the Antwerp Olympics of 1920 to win another silve
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Biographical entry Beaurepaire, Francis Joseph Edmund (Frank) (1891 - 1956)
Browse:
Sir
- Born
- 13 May 1891
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 29 May 1956
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Athlete, Businessman and Politician
Details
Francis Joseph Edmund (Frank) Beaurepaire was an athlete (swimmer), businessman, politician and civic leader. He won three national titles in 1908 and represented Australia at the London Olympic Games of that year. After serving in World War I, he represented Australia at the Antwerp Olympic Games (1920) and the Paris Olympic Games (1924). He founded the Beaurepaire Tyre Service in 1922 and formed the Olympic Tyre and Rubber Co. Pty Ltd in 1933. He became a Melbourne city councillor in 1928 and served as lord mayor from 1940 to 1942. He served in the Victorian Legislative Council from 1942 to 1952. Beaurepaire was a chief sponsor of the proposal to hold the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. He donated £200,000 to the University of Melbourne for a sports centre.
Source
Poynter, J.R. Beaurepaire, Sir Francis Joseph Edmund (F
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