Don Talbot

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In 1981, Talbot was appointed the inaugural Director of the Australian Institute of Sport - a position he held until 1984, when he became the national head coach for Swimming Canada, leading it to its greatest period of success in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. He was however dismissed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and replaced by Dave Johnson in 1988. It was widely alleged that Talbot was fired for refusing to put the daughter of a Committee member on the national team. Afterwards, Swimming Canada went into a gradual decline, winning only a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and failing to medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The COC promptly fired Johnson and appointed Pierre Lafontaine, a former Talbot protege, to head the national swim program and they turned in much improved results at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships.

In 1989, Don took the reins as Australian Swimming’s National Head Coach. Under him, Australia achieved it's best Olympic performance ever in the pool at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (finishing second to the U.S.). Talbot led the Dolphins to victory at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships defeating the United States for the first time at a major meet since the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

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