Kevin John Berry OAM was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s who won the gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
24 Facts About Kevin Berry
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Kevin Berry was taught to swim by his elder sister Colleen along with his younger siblings at Botany Bay.
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Kevin Berry's younger brother Paul was a promising youth swimmer who defeated dual Olympic gold medallist Michael Wenden, and later became a professional rugby league footballer.
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Kevin Berry was educated at De La Salle College, and represented the school in athletics and rugby league, with moderate success.
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Kevin Berry joined the Pyrmont Club, which trained at Victoria Park Swimming Pool, under Eric Hayes, and swam from 1956 until 1958 as a freestyler, with reasonable age group success.
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Kevin Berry switched coaches to Don Talbot, training at Bankstown, New South Wales by the end of the year.
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In 1959 at the under-14 New South Wales Championships, Kevin Berry came first, second and third in the breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly respectively.
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Kevin Berry's parents were surprised when Talbot told them at the end of the year that Kevin Berry had a chance of making the 1960 Summer Olympics team for Rome, even though he had never entered an Australian Championship before.
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Kevin Berry was sent on a training camp with the Australian team to Townsville, Queensland to prepare for the Olympics.
10.
Troy, who was impressed by Kevin Berry, sent him an autographed postcard, implying that he could be the next Olympic champion.
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Kevin Berry finished his high schooling that year, and had a disrupted preparation for an international meet at the end of the year against a Japanese team and the 1962 Commonwealth Games the following year.
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Kevin Berry again lowered the 220-yard record at the Australian Championships in qualifying for the Commonwealth Games.
13.
In 1963 Kevin Berry successfully defended both of his butterfly titles, and then made a European tour with the Australian team, and then passed the entry examinations to Indiana University, and moved to the United States on a swimming scholarship under Doc Counsilman.
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Kevin Berry was defeated in the US Championships that year by Carl Robie, who later captured his world records.
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Kevin Berry trained among high calibre swimmers at Indiana, as his teammates included Tom Stock, Chet Jastremski and Ted Stickles, holders of every backstroke, breaststroke and medley world record respectively.
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In 1964 Kevin Berry returned to Australia to qualify for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, breaking world records in both the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly.
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Kevin Berry attended a training camp in Ayr, Queensland under Talbot, who was the national head coach.
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Kevin Berry then set a time of 2:06.6,0.3 of a second faster than his previous world record to claim gold.
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Kevin Berry returned to the United States, but was unable to match his previous form, and exchanged regular wins and defeats with Robie, who swam for the University of Michigan.
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Kevin Berry was selected for the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, but withdrew after his father's death and returned to Australia.
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Kevin Berry retired the following year and married, but continued his university education, initially studying business, but later switching to radio and television, and then photography.
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Kevin Berry worked as a photographer for two years in the United States before switching to The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia, where he later became the Pictorial Editor.
23.
Kevin Berry served as the ABC head of sport from 1985 until 1987, before starting his own private sports business.
24.
Kevin Berry was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1980.