Allan Murray (born 19 June 1972) is a Bahamian former swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, and 2000), and a top 16 finalist in the 50 m freestyle at his second Olympic appearance in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. While studying in the United States, Murray was a member of

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

swimming team under head coach Jack Bauerle.

Career

Early years

Born and raised in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Murray later emerged as the first Bahamian swimmer to reach a summit of worldwide swimming success. He started his sporting career as a resident athlete for the Swift Swim Club, and was trained by his longtime coach Andy Knowles, a former

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

swimmer. In 1991, Murray accepted on an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, where he majored in mathematics and played for the

swimming and diving team under head coach Jack Bauerle.

Olympic career

Murray made his worldwide debut as a member of the Bahamian squad at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona. He placed almost in the "middle-of-the-road" in any of his individual events, finishing twenty-first in the 50 m freestyle (23.35) and forty-third in the 100 m freestyle (52.43). At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Murray made a historic milestone for the Bahamas, as he became the first ever swimmer to reach an Olympic final. In the 50 m freestyle, Murray shared a twelfth-place tie with Brazil's top medal favorite

Gustavo Borges Gustavo França Borges (born 2 December 1972) is a Brazilian former competitive swimming (sport), swimmer. He swam for Brazil in four Summer Olympic Games: Brazil at the 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992, Brazil at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996, Braz ...

, finishing in a joint time of 22.92. Murray swam for his third time in the 50 m freestyle at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. He posted a

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

B-standard of 23.11 from the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He challenged seven other swimmers in heat five, including Uzbekistan's top favorite

Ravil Nachaev Ravil Nachaev (also ''Ravil Nagayev'', ; born June 17, 1974, in Tashkent) is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), and a gold medalist in the 50 m fr ...

. Unable to keep himself in good form, Murray came up short in second place by 0.22 of a second behind Nachaev in 23.34. Murray failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed thirty-seventh overall in the prelims. Shortly after his third Olympics, Murray retired from swimming to work as an assistant coach for the Bahamas Swimming Federation.

Personal bests

References

External links