Paul Colin Rowe is a New Zealand-born Australian former

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 ...

of the 1970s and 1980s. Born in New Zealand, Rowe won national titles in his native country for butterfly and freestyle. He represented New Zealand at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

in Edmonton, coming fourth in the 100 metre butterfly. Rowe came to Australia in 1979 for training in the lead up to the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, where he had been due to swim for the New Zealand delegation. New Zealand ended up boycotting the games and in 1981 he became a naturalised Australian. At the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

in Brisbane, he was a member of the Australian gold medal-winning freestyle relay team, as well as a silver medalist in the 200 metre butterfly. In 1986, Rowe retired from competitive swimming and made a switch to

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

. Rowe is a cousin of swimmer Mark Treffers and uncle of swimmer

Ben Treffers Benjamin Treffers (born 15 August 1991) is an Australian competitive swimmer who has participated in the FINA world championships and Commonwealth Games. Treffers is the current Australian Record Holder in the 50m backstroke event Treffers also ...

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* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand male freestyle swimmers Australian male freestyle swimmers Australian male butterfly swimmers New Zealand emigrants to Australia Swimmers at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand Swimmers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia {{Australia-swimming-bio-stub