17 Facts About Brad Cooper

Bradford Paul Cooper was born on 19 July 1954 and is an Australian former freestyle and backstroke swimmer of the 1970s, who won a gold medal in the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

The second of three brothers, Cooper was born in Singapore to Australian parents but moved with his family to Rockhampton, Queensland at the age of five.

The Cooper brothers all learned to swim early and joined the Rockhampton Swimming Club, but it was Brad who shone from the start, winning his first Central Queensland medals at age seven.

In 1970, at age 15, at the national open championships, Brad Cooper came second in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke, putting him briefly in contention for that year's Commonwealth Games team.

Brad Cooper then moved to Sydney, where he trained with Don Talbot.

Brad Cooper came second in the 400 m freestyle behind fellow Talbot swimmer Graham Windeatt, surpassing the previous Australian record.

In January 1972, Brad Cooper hit the headlines when he broke the 800 m freestyle world record.

Brad Cooper went to Munich as one of the favourites in both the 400 m and 1500 m freestyle events.

The International Olympic Committee initially decided to leave the gold medal vacant, until a protest from the Australian delegation resulted in Brad Cooper being awarded the gold medal.

Brad Cooper finished seventh, twenty seconds slower than his time in the heats, and more than half a minute slower than his personal best.

Brad Cooper went on to compete at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, where media interest surrounded his 400 m and 1500 m freestyle races against DeMont.

Brad Cooper finished behind DeMont in the 1500 m, but the race was won by Australian Stephen Holland, who broke his own world record.

Brad Cooper was then awarded a swimming scholarship to Miami University, but was unable to enrol as he had not finished his secondary education in Australia.

Brad Cooper then won the 400 m freestyle and 200 m backstroke at the Australian Championships, and then retired, saying that "I was sick of the daily grind".

Brad Cooper later worked in periods in the newspaper industry as a journalist, as well as becoming a swimming coach and building his own swim centre.

Brad Cooper was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1990, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994.

In 2009 Brad Cooper was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.