Peter Evans (swimmer)

Peter Evans
Personal information
Full namePeter Maxwell Evans
National team Australia
Born (1961-08-01) 1 August 1961 (age 63)
Perth, Western Australia
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
College teamUniversity of Arizona
CoachDick Jochums
University of Arizona
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1980 Moscow 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Moscow 100 m breast
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles 100 m breast
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1982 Brisbane 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Brisbane 100 m breast
Summer Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Edmonton 100 m breast

Peter Maxwell Evans (born 1 August 1961) is an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1980s who won four Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4×100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. He also won consecutive bronze medals in the 100 m breaststroke at the 1980 Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The son of prominent Western Australian businessman and politician Max Evans, Evans had a late start to his swimming career, making his debut at the Australian Championships in his hometown of Perth, aged 17. Despite placing second in the 100 m breaststroke, he was not selected for Australia, and instead travelled to the United Kingdom to train under David Haller. During this period, he quickly improved his times and rose from outside the top 200 into the top 25 in the world rankings. Evans returned to Australia in 1980 and qualified for the Olympics in both the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke. A sprinter, he won the 100 m in an Australian record time and showed a preference for shorter events, which required less training mileage. Evans gained a reputation for often doing fewer training laps than his coach asked of him.[1][2] Having rebuffed Australian government pressure to boycott the Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Evans won bronze in the 100 m breaststroke. His career peak came in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, when he outsplit his opponents in the breaststroke leg of the relay, bringing Australia into contention for its eventual win, which remains the only time that the United States has not won the event at Olympic level.

After the Olympics, Evans moved to the United States to study business and compete for the University of Arizona, under Hall of Fame Coach Dick Jochums, who was just beginning his tenure at Alabama.[3][4][5] Evans was less successful in the short-course format used at college level, which placed more reliance on efficient turns. Evans returned to Australia for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, winning silver in the 100 m breaststroke and gold in the medley relay. He competed in his second Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, winning bronze in both the 100 m breaststroke and the medley relay. Evans retired after missing selection for the 1986 Commonwealth Games and attempted to follow his father into politics. He unsuccessfully stood as the candidate for the Liberal Party of Australia in the electoral district of Perth at the 1986 state election, before pursuing a career in business.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference h241 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference h242 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Overend, Riley, Hall of Fame Coach Dick Jochums dies at age 81". swimswam.com. 20 August 2022.
  4. ^ De George, Matthew (20 August 2022). "Coach Dick Jochums Dies at age 81". ishof.org. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Richard Jochums Hall of Fame Coach". swimmingworldmagazine.com. Retrieved 16 June 2024.