Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today on behalf of the residents of the Ryan electorate to remember one of our golden boys of Australian swimming, Murray Rose. At just 17 years of age, Murray Rose was at the peak of his swimming power. While competing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, he won three gold medals—in the four-by-200-metre freestyle relay, the 400-metre freestyle and the 1,500-metre freestyle. He followed up that success in Rome at the 1960 Olympics, where he retained his 400-metre crown and took out silver in the 1,500-metre race, behind fellow Australian John Konrads. His final time representing Australia was at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games, where he won every event in which he competed and received four gold medals. He then went on to begin a movie career in California, which my colleague the member for Kooyong detailed previously.

Murray Rose was patron of the charity the Rainbow Club, which teaches disabled children how to swim. For his services to swimming, he was appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 2000. He also received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and in 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal.

Speaking at Murray Rose's funeral, fellow Olympian Dawn Fraser described her friend as 'a true gentleman'. She said:

He will always be known as the pioneer of distance swimming in Australia … Murray was a true gentleman, he will be a great loss to the Olympic family, he will be a great loss to the swimming community, and he will be a great loss to the wider community.

On behalf of the people of Ryan, I extend my condolences to the family and friends of Murray Rose.

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