Theo Tartakover

The son of a Jewish general store owner, swimmer Theo Tartakover competed for the East Sydney ASC along with, among others, Cecil Healy and Fred Lane. Tartakover made his Olympic début for the Australasian team in 1908 when he placed second in the heat of the 100 metres freestyle behind the eventual silver medallist Zoltán Halmay, who was the 1904 gold medallist. Only the winner of each heat and the two fastest losers in nine, which did not include Tartakover, advanced to the semis. He had better luck in the 400 free, where he won his heat but did not start the semi-final. In the 4x200 relay Tartakover teamed up with Frank Beaurepaire, Frank Springfield, and Snowy Baker, with Tartakover swimming the anchor leg. They finished fourth and last in the final and missed the podium.

Tartakover returned for the 1912 Olympics to become, along with with Syd Middleton, the first Australian to take part in two official Olympic Games (excluding the 1906 Intercalated Games). Tartakover failed to qualify for the semi-final in both of his events at Stockholm.