Cecil Healy (AUS)

Honor Swimmer (1981)

The information on this page was written the year of their induction.

FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1906 bronze (100m freestyle); 1912 gold (freestyle relay), silver (100m freestyle); WORLD AMATEUR CHAMPIONNATS: 1906 gold; AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5; Developed two-beat freestyle–the original Australian Crawl.

Cecil Healy is generally considered to be the father, first champion and the leading spokesman for the stylized Australian Crawl. This two beat stroke alternated opposite kicks and pulls unlike the 6 beat (leg kick) American Crawl Stroke which is commonly called the “Australian Crawl”. As a teacher and the leading Australian swimming writer (1905-1916) he developed regular breathing to the crawl stroke. His swimming career came to an untimely end when he was killed on the Western Front in France during World War I. He was still swimming competitively when he entered the Australian Army. He is generally considered the leader of the “Golden Age” of Australian swimming (1900-1912) including such legendary Hall of Famers as Freddy Lane, Mina Wylie, Alick Wickham and the five Cavills.