Frank O'Neill

Frank O’Neill took up swimming at a young age and from thereon became involved in all matters of aquatic endeavors, including water polo, surfing, and lifesaving, winning titles at various levels of all of these sports. It was competitive swimming, however, for which he became best known, and after World War II he began setting regional and national records, including becoming the first Australian to swim the 110 yards freestyle in under one minute. His skills took him to the 1950 British Empire Games, where he took silver in the 110 yards freestyle and the 4x220 yards freestyle, the latter alongside Garrick Agnew and the non-Olympians Barrie Kellaway and James Beard. He was also fourth in the 3x110 yards medley relay with the non-Olympians Frank Stevens and Ronald Sharpe, and played in the water polo exhibition tournament, which Australia won.

O’Neill’s next stop was the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where he captained the swimming team. He was 21st in the 100 metres backstroke, joint-28th (with Neo Chwee Kok of Singapore) in the 100 metres freestyle, and ninth in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay (alongside Agnew, Rex Aubrey, and John Marshall). He then went on to break the world record in the 400 metres medley twice in 1953. Between 1946 and 1953, he won 12 national titles.

Personal circumstances led him to retire from active competition shortly thereafter, but in 1957 he founded Frank O’Neill’s Swimming School, which eventually moved into the pool construction business. He acted as a poolside instructor to Hollywood stars like Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers. At the end of the 1960s, he sold his business and moved to Kenya to take up horse breeding and racing. In 2000, he was selected as one of the torch runners in the lead up to that year’s Sydney Olympics.

He was married three times, twice to Australia wine heiress Patricia Cavendish. They also divorced twice and, when she died, Patricia had written Frank out of her will and left her $40 million estate to her monkey, Kalu. He challenged the will, won his case but after he also inherited her debts he was only left with $150,000.