Description:

FROM 1956 OLYMPIC GAMES MELBOURNE/AUSTRALIA

 The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1956, apart from the equestrian events, which were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden. Equestrian could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations. This was the second Olympics not to be held entirely in one country, the first being the 1920 Summer Olympics. The 1956 Games were the first to be staged in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the first to be held outside Europe and North America.

Olympic Games Melbourne

Kevin O'Hal 

Australian Freestyle Swimming

Button Badge Pin

Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 13 swimmingevents were contested, seven for men and six for women. There was a total of 235 participants from 33 countries competing. For the first time, the butterfly stroke was contested as a separate event. Australia dominated the medal standings with a total of 14 medals.

Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

The men's 4×200 metre freestyle relay event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place December 1 — 3. The relay featured teams of four swimmers each swimming four lengths of the 50 m pool freestyle.

Jon Henricks, Murray Rose, John Devitt and Kevin O'Halloran, our winning 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay swimming team, Melbourne, Victoria, 1956

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Australia Kevin O'Halloran John Devitt Murray Rose Jon Henricks	United States Dick Hanley George Breen Bill Woolsey Ford Konno	Soviet Union Vitaly Sorokin Vladimir Struzhanov Gennady Nikolayev Boris Nikitin

Jon Henricks, John Devitt, Murray Rose
& Kevin O'Halloran

Kevin O'Halloran

Kevin O'Halloran (3 March 1937 – 5 July 1976) was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s who won a gold medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics inMelbourne. The first Western Australian to win Olympic gold, O'Halloran learnt to swim in his home town of Katanning. He moved to Perth to attend secondary schooling at Guildford Grammar School, where he became more committed to swimming. Competitive swimming was not well developed in Western Australia: races were held in muddy river pools; hence, in late 1955, O'Halloran moved to the east coast to support his attempt to qualify for the Olympics. His new coach, Frank Guthrie, overhauled his training regimen and within a year O'Halloran had reduced his times by approximately 10%. He gained Olympic selection in the relay and the 400 m freestyle. O'Halloran led off the Australian quartet on the way to a new world record, before placing sixth in the 400 m. Thereafter, O'Halloran's career was beset by ear problems, and he retired in 1958 after failing to qualify for the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1976, O'Halloran died after tripping and accidentally shooting himself.

Kevin O'Halloran

Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	3 March 1937 Katanning, Western Australia
Died	5 July 1976 (aged 39) Kojonup, Western Australia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle

Jim Bailey / Gary Chapman / Lorraine Crapp

Kevin Gosper / Jon Hendricks / Hector Hogan

Merv. Lincoln / Tony Madigan / Murray Rose

Dave Stephens / Shirley Strickland / Merv. Wood

Lionel Cox / Winsome Cripps / Dawn Fraser

John Landy / Faith Leech / Marlene Matthews

Kevin O’Halloran / David Thiele

32mm tin badge.

This Badge Pin is in very good condition.

SOUVENIR - VERY OLD/VERY NICE