Gary Abraham

Gary Abraham
Personal information
Full nameGary Abraham
National teamGreat Britain
Born (1959-01-08) 8 January 1959 (age 66)
Southampton, England
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb; 10.1 st)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke, butterfly
ClubSouthampton Swimming Club
College teamUniversity of Miami
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Moscow 4×100 m medley
World Championships - Long Course
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Berlin 4×100 m medley
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 1978 Edmonton 100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 1978 Edmonton 4×100 m medley

Gary Abraham (born 8 January 1959) is an English former competitive swimmer.

Swimming career

Abraham represented Great Britain in the Olympics and FINA world championships, as well as England in the Commonwealth games, during the 1970s and early 1980s. Abraham was an Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games medallist. As a 17-year-old, Abraham represented Great Britain at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. He competed in the 100-metre backstroke, and swam the backstroke leg for the British team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4x100-metre medley relay.

Abraham represented England at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, winning two silver medals in the 100-metre backstroke and the 4x100-metre medley relay.[1][2] At the ASA National British Championships he won the 100 metres backstroke title six times (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981) and the 200 metres backstroke title in 1978.[3][4][5][6]

At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he earned a bronze medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the third-place British team in the 4×100-metre medley relay.[7] He was the first swimmer to utilise the rule permitting swimmers to swim 15 metres underwater at the start of certain events.

Abraham retired from competitive swimming in 1983. He currently coaches at Eastleigh Swimming Club.

Personal bests

Long course (50 m)
Event Time


Date Meet Location Ref
100 m butterfly 55.42 23 August 1980 Olympic Games Moscow, Russia Watch on YouTube
100 m backstroke 57.72 24 August 1980 Olympic Games Moscow, Russia
Short course (33m)
Event Time


Date Meet Location Ref
110 yd backstroke 59.80 March 1981 Hampshire County Championships Southampton, United Kingdom Source
Short course (25 m)
Event Time


Date Meet Location Ref
100 m butterfly 58.79 March 1982 Hampshire County Championships Southampton, United Kingdom Source
100 m backstroke 1:00:00 March 1978 Hampshire County Championships Southampton, United Kingdom Source

See also

References

  1. ^ "1978 Athletes". Team England.
  2. ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Fox, Norman. "Swimming." Times, 26 May 1975, p. 9". Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ ""A 13-year-old breaks the barrier." Times, 28 Aug. 1976, p. 18". Times Digital Archive.
  5. ^ ""Swimming." Times, 23 July 1977, p. 5". Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ "Hennessy, John. "Swimming." Times, 29 May 1978, p. 12". Times Digital Archive.
  7. ^ David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics: Sydney 2000 Edition, p. 736. Overlook Press (2000). ISBN 1-58567-046-4.


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