Todd Robert Pearson (born 25 November 1977) is an Australian

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

champion, who was born in Geraldton, Western Australia. He started swimming on the advice of a doctor treating his asthma. Pearson was vice captain of

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to ...

in 1994 where he spent time in Faulkner House and St George House. He was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

scholarship holder.AIS at the Olympics
He was no stranger to the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. After swimming the heat of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay 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, Pearson was a spectator for the final, when the Australians set a world record by beating the US team for the first time in Olympic history. He went on to swim in the final of the 4×200-metre freestyle with

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle swimming, freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the medley swimming, individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the se ...

Michael Klim Michael George Klim, OAM (born 13 August 1977) is an Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and former world record-holder of the 1990s and 2000s. He is known as the creator of straight-arm freestyle. Early years Klim was ...

and Bill Kirby. The Aussies led from start to finish, setting another world record and achieving every child's dream of winning gold for Australia. Pearson was awarded 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 ...

medal for contribution to sport for this effort. After Sydney in 2000, Pearson won gold medals at the

2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The ninth edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in 2002 in Yokohama International Swimming Pool in Yokohama, Japan, from August 24–29. One world record A world record is usually t ...

and the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. He was also co-captain of the Australian swimming team in 2001. Despite swimming more than 50 kilometres a week, Pearson found time to complete a bachelor of commerce degree with a major in accounting and has worked for a multinational accounting firm. Pearson later represented Australia in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, winning a silver medal.

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Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Todd 1977 births Living people People educated at Hale School Australian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia Sportspeople from Geraldton World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Goodwill Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games 21st-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Australian sportsmen Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games

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