Olympic gold medallist John Konrads joins Noosa Aquatic Centre team

The Noosa Aquatic Centre has introduced an evening swimming squad for adults coached by three-time Olympian John Konrads.

Noosa Aquatic Centre Co-ordinator Stephen James said he is delighted to welcome John to the Noosa Aquatic Centre, stating "we recognised a gap in the market for an evening squad and to have John Konrads, an Olympic gold medallist able to deliver this program is fantastic."

Konrads astounded world swimming when, at the age of 15, he broke all world freestyle records from 200 metres to 1500 metres. He represented Australia at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games, winning gold in the 1500 metres freestyle at the Rome Olympic Games and bringing home three gold medals from the 1958 Commonwealth Games.

His status as a swimming legend is recognised by the International Hall of Fame, the Australian Sports Hall of Fame and at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre.

After competitive swimming, Konrads was Managing Director of the Australasian operations for personal care products company L’Oreal for more than a decade, was General Marketing Manager for Ansett in the lead up to airline deregulation and, in the first half of the 1990s was Chief Executive of the Melbourne Major Events Company where he was responsible for attracting many high profile events to the city including the F1 Grand Prix.

After 1996, he consulted in marketing, sports venue development and executive coaching and in 1999 he won the tender for managing the Cook+Phillip Park Aquatic and Fitness Centre, before management of the facility passed to the YMCA in 2007.

Konrads now resides in Sunrise Beach and is as passionate as ever about swimming.

His squads are held on Thursday evenings.

For more information check the Noosa Aquatic Centre facebook page.