Simon Thirsk (born 15 May 1977 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

) is a retired South African swimmer, who specialised in backstroke events.

Career and awards

Thirsk won a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke at the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma, Majorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain from 3 July to 13 July. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football (finals), ceremonies * Palau Municipal d'Espor ...

, and later represented South Africa 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 ...

. While residing in the United States, Thirsk played for the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

's swimming and diving team, also known as the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes at ...

, under head coach Sam Freas. Thirsk burst onto the global scene at the

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

. In the 100 m backstroke, he fought off a challenge from Japan's

Keitaro Konnai is a retired male backstroke swimmer from Japan. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia ( ...

to power home with South Africa's first ever gold in 55.97. At the

in Sydney, Thirsk competed only in two swimming events. After winning a gold medal from the University Games, his entry time of 55.97 was officially accredited under 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 ...

A-standard. In the 100 m backstroke, Thirsk challenged seven other swimmers in heat six, including Cuba's Olympic silver medalist

Rodolfo Falcón Rodolfo A. Falcón Cabrera (born October 25, 1972, in Havana, Havana, Cuba) is a 3-time Olympic swimmer from Cuba, and has been called the country's best swimmer ever.Matt Welsh Matthew James Welsh (born 18 November 1976) is an Australian swimmer who is the former world champion in the backstroke and butterfly. He took two golds in 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter backstroke, during one hour, at the World Championships ...

. He rounded out the field to last place and thirtieth overall by a 2.36-second deficit behind winner Welsh in 57.06. Thirsk also teamed up with Brett Petersen, Nicholas Folker, and Theo Verster in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Leading off a backstroke leg in heat two, Thirsk recorded a split of 56.88, but the South Africans finished the race in fourth place and thirteenth overall with a final time of 3:42.44. Three years later, at the

2003 All-Africa Games The 8th All Africa Games, also known as Abuja 2003, were held from 5–17 October 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria. 53 countries participated in 23 sports. The main venue was the newly constructed Abuja Stadium. The organizing committee was headed by N ...

Abuja, Nigeria Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

, Thirsk collected a total of three medals: two silvers in the 50 m backstroke (27.04) and 100 m backstroke (57.60), and a single bronze in the 200 m backstroke (2:09.79).

References

External links

News 24 Profile
1977 births Living people Alumni of Camps Bay High School Olympic swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics South African male backstroke swimmers Swimmers from Cape Town Hawaii Rainbow Warriors swimmers South African expatriate swimmers in the United States African Games silver medalists for South Africa Summer World University Games medalists in swimming African Games bronze medalists for South Africa Swimmers at the 2003 All-Africa Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Africa Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade 21st-century South African sportsmen African Games bronze medalists in swimming African Games silver medalists in swimming {{SouthAfrica-swimming-bio-stub