Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, who swam for the University of Southern California, and worked as an actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records in the 400-metre, 800-metre, and 1500-metre freestyle (long course). He made his Olympic debut at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

as a 17-year-old and won three Olympic medals, all gold. Four years later, as a 21-year-old, he won three Olympic medals (one gold, one silver, one bronze) at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Biography

Early life

Iain Murray Rose was born on 6 January 1939 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England to parents Eileen and Ian Rose. As World War II broke out, his family moved to Australia in 1940 when he was a baby. He started swimming as a boy and attended Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, Sydney. He swam regularly at Redleaf Pool, an enclosed saltwater swimming pool in the suburb of

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality o ...

. In 2012, the pool was renamed Murray Rose Pool in his honour.Murray Rose Pool

Municipality of Woollahra Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Port J ...

Career

At the age of 17, Rose participated in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He won the 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle races and was a member of the winning team in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. Winning three gold medals in his home country immediately made him a national hero. He was the youngest Olympian to be awarded three gold medals in one Olympic Games. Afterwards, Rose moved to the United States to accept an athletic scholarship at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC) where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business/Communications. He continued competing while at USC, and graduated in 1962. At the

in Rome, Italy, Rose again won an Olympic gold medal in the 400m freestyle, as well as a silver in the 1500m freestyle and a bronze in the freestyle relay, bringing his haul to six Olympic medals. In addition to his Olympic medals, he won four gold medals at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia. He eventually set 15 world records, including the world record in the 800-metre freestyle in 1962, which was not broken until Semyon Belits-Geiman set a new record in 1966. Rose missed the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as he was attending university in the United States at the time of Australia's Olympic trials and so was omitted from their Olympic team; he had set world records for 880 yard and 1,500 metre freestyle event earlier in the months before the Games and would have been a medal favourite. During the 1960s, he also pursued an acting career, starring in two

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

films and making guest appearances on television shows such as '' Adventure Unlimited''. In addition, Rose worked as an Australian sports commentator for the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, plus each of the major US networks, participating in seven consecutive Olympic Games. Rose continued to compete as a masters swimmer. In 1981 he won the World Masters title in faster times than he recorded at the 1956 Games. From 1988 to 1994, Rose was vice-president of California Sports Marketing specialising in marketing, sponsorships and promotions for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and special events at the Great Western Forum. He returned to Sydney with his family in 1994 and worked as a Senior Account Director for Sports Marketing and Management – the official marketing agent for the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

, the

Australian Commonwealth Games Association Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) is the Commonwealth Games Association for Australia, and is responsible for representing and promoting the Commonwealth Sport movement in the country, and organises the participation of Australia at the Commonw ...

and a range of other leading Australian sports organisations. An avenue at

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

was named for him in 2000. He was one of the eight flag-bearers of the

Olympic Flag The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme as well as those u ...

at the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Sydney. In 2010, Rose led a team on a pilgrimage for Military History Tours to

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

and a 4.5 km swim from Europe to Asia across the Dardanelles. In 2012, Redleaf Pool in

, Sydney, was officially renamed Murray Rose Pool in his honour. In 2022 Cranbrook School named its new swimming complex on New South Head Road the Murray Rose Aquatic & Fitness Centre.

Work in film and television

In 1958 he appeared on ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radioTo Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' where he stumped the panel as they all voted for the wrong person. He made his acting debut in the 1962 Australian live drama '' My Three Angels''. He also guest starred in an episode of ''Adventure Unlimited''. Later he starred in the 1964 surf movie '' Ride the Wild Surf'' and in ''

Ice Station Zebra ''Ice Station Zebra'' is a 1968 American espionage thriller film directed by John Sturges and starring Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine, and Jim Brown. The screenplay is by Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, and W. R. Burnett, lo ...

'' in 1968. He also made periodic appearances in television and film including guest spots on '' Dr Kildare'', ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radioThe Patty Duke Show'', ''Dream Rider'', ''Time Capsule 1932'' and ''Time Capsule 1938''.

Charity

Rose held a number of cause-related Board positions including the Mary MacKillop Foundation and Patron of Rainbow Club Australia, a non-profit charity providing children with special needs the opportunity to explore their abilities through sporting and recreational activities. In 2012, Rainbow Club Australia renamed their annual event, The Murray Rose's Malabar Magic Ocean Swim. The MRMM offers a two swim program of 1 km and 2.4 km

Honours

He was among the first swimmers inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

, in 1965, was voted Australia's greatest male Olympian by his peers in 1983, and inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985. Rose was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in 2000 for services to swimming. He also received the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

that year and, in 2001, he was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

. In 2023, he was inducted into the Swimming Australia Hall of Fame.

Books

Murray Rose's father, Ian F Rose, publishe
Faith, Love, and Seaweed
about his son's childhood and diet. In 2013, Murray Rose's memoir ''Life is Worth Swimming'' was posthumously published. Written before his leukaemia diagnosis, ''Life is Worth Swimming'' reflects on Rose's life and experiences as an Olympic swimmer. *

Personal life

Rose married ballerina Jodi Wintz on 20 October 1988. Their son was born in 1990. He was previously married to Bobbie Whitby and he adopted her daughter. Rose was a strict vegetarian in his swimming days – this earned him the nickname "The Seaweed Streak" – but he later added meat to his diet. Rose died of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on 15 April 2012 at the age of 73 in Sydney, New South Wales.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Murray 1939 births 2012 deaths Australian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia World record setters in swimming USC Trojans men's swimmers Australian expatriate swimmers in the United States Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal University of Southern California alumni Australian male actors English emigrants to Australia Swimmers from Birmingham, West Midlands Swimmers from Sydney People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney Deaths from leukemia in Australia Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australian expatriates in the United States Sportsmen from New South Wales Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century Australian sportsmen