Gary Chapman

Gary Arthur Chapman (12 March 1938 – 23 September 1978) was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s who won a bronze medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Although he had set a world record in the 220-yard freestyle, he was surprisingly omitted from the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team which won the gold medal.

Born in Brighton-Le-Sands, Sydney, Chapman first came to prominence in the 1952 Australian Championships, at the age of 14, when he cut 2.9 seconds off the 440-yard freestyle Australian record. In 1954, he sliced 12.8 seconds off the 880-yard record in qualifying for the Australian team at the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver, where he won gold in the 440-yard freestyle and bronze in the 1650-yard freestyle. He also claimed gold in the 4×220-yard freestyle relay. In his era, the 220 and 880-yard freestyle were not contested as individual events.

Chapman retired after the 1958 Games. In 1978, he and a friend died after a boat belonging to him capsized near Little Bay, New South Wales, in the south of Sydney. Their bodies were never recovered.