ILSA KONRADS, LEGENDARY AUSTRALIAN SWIMMER

This page is dedicated to the legendary Australian swimmer Ilsa Konrads, who has become an Honorary ILSA Member for obvious reasons.

          Ilsa Konrads (left), with Dawn Fraser                                 Ilsa Konrads

A brief biography:

• Born in 1944 in Riga, Latvia

• Ilsa and her family left Latvia shortly after her birth

• The Konrads settle in Australia in 1949, after a stay in a refugee camp in Germany

• Started swimming at the age of nine "because John was going swimming and I wanted to go too" 

• John Konrads, Ilsa's older brother, would become Olympic Champion in 1960 (1500 meter freestyle event)

• Coached by Don Talbot, one of Australia's most successful swimming coaches ever

• Set her first world record at the age of thirteen (800 meter freestyle), at a time when athletic child prodigies were a rarity

• Established a total of twelve world records in various long distance freestyle events

• Finished a disappointing fourth at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italy

• Quit swimming in 1964, at the age of nineteen

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