275:
was a member of the
Houston Contractors Association. After being away from competitive swimming for 16 years, from 1956 to 1972, Graham returned to the sport at the age of 41 when the U. S. Masters swimming program was launched for older swimmers. He began training and competing at the Dads Club of Houston, and in 1973 swam in his first Masters National Championship in Santa Monica, CA. This success was followed over the next 46 years by national championships, national records, world records and world championships too numerous to recount.
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throughout the rest of his life. He was both South
African National Junior Diving Champion and South African Junior Swimming Champion for 3 consecutive years 1946 – 48, and South African National Senior Swimming Champion 1949-51. He won 2 gold and 2 silver medals in each of the 1950 and 1954 Commonwealth Games held in New Zealand and Canada, and represented South Africa in the Summer Olympics of 1952 held in Helsinki, Finland.
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national record at every freestyle distance from 100 yards in the pool to the 10k open water swim. Over his career, he competed in eight FINA (Federation
Internationale de Natation) Masters World Championships and won Gold 33 times. In 2017, he held 105 FINA Masters World Records, the most of any male in the world.
274:
Graham retired from swimming in 1956, and after a brief residence in South Africa, he and Janis moved to
Houston in 1962 where they raised their five children. He worked for E. L. Lester & Co. in heavy construction materials sales and later for Waukesha-Pearce, industrial equipment supplier. He
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in 1998, the
International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003, the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in 2009, the National Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2011, and the Huntsman World Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2012. During the period while swimming in the 65-69 age bracket, he held every
286:
Graham also loved open water swimming. He won the
Waikiki Rough Water Swim eight years in a row, was the oldest and fastest of all age groups to complete the Robben Island to Cape Town, South Africa swim, enjoyed the Lanai to Maui Channel relay, the Catalina Island relay, the San Francisco to
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on 10 July 1930. His father, who managed a swimming pool, taught him to swim before the age of two. As a youth, he attended the
Afrikaans all-boys school, Grey College. Completely comfortable in the water, Graham achieved national swimming success during his high school and college years and
255:. Johnston graduated from the University of Oklahoma and lived in the United States of America beginning in 1958. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1998 and is acknowledged worldwide as one of the greatest Masters swimmers of all time.
270:
where he was named an NCAA All-American for three years. Also in 1952, while a freshman, he met his future wife, Janis
Kathryn Thompson, who was also a student at OU. They married in 1955 and had five children and nine grandchildren.
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After his
Olympic performance, Graham was invited to be one of the first South African athletes to swim at an American University. He was awarded a full swimming scholarship to the
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Graham died in
Houston, Texas on 27 July 2019, at the age of 89.
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Alcatraz swim and at age 74 became the oldest man to swim the
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Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
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Swimmers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
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List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
309:
List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
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Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa
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Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa
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Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa
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247:(10 July 1930 – 27 July 2019) was a South African
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420:Commonwealth champions in men's 1500 m freestyle
328:Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;
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21:
1042:Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games
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397:
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1027:Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
1002:Swimmers at the 1950 British Empire Games
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987:South African male freestyle swimmers
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997:Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
280:International Swimming Hall of Fame
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1037:21st-century South African people
1032:20th-century South African people
992:Olympic swimmers for South Africa
16:South African swimmer (1930–2019)
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338:Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
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982:Sportspeople from Bloemfontein
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1052:University of Oklahoma alumni
278:Graham was inducted into The
436:1970 – present: 1500 metres
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426:
138:
118:
103:
89:
232:4x220yd freestyle relay
433:1938 – 1966: 1650 yards
430:1930 – 1934: 1500 yards
268:University of Oklahoma
98:University of Oklahoma
258:Johnston was born in
342:Sports Reference LLC
289:Straits of Gibraltar
253:1952 Summer Olympics
251:who competed in the
141:British Empire Games
29:Personal information
348:on 13 November 2012
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245:Graham M. Johnston
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368:"Graham Johnston"
334:"Graham Johnston"
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181:1650yd freestyle
162:1650yd freestyle
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344:. Archived from
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215:440yd freestyle
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198:440yd freestyle
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919:Jack McLoughlin
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643:Graham Windeatt
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23:Graham Johnston
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781:Kieren Perkins
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332:; et al.
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228:1954 Vancouver
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63:(aged 89)
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50:, South Africa
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896:Ryan Cochrane
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873:Ryan Cochrane
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827:Grant Hackett
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123:Representing
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59:July 27, 2019
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44:July 10, 1930
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942:Samuel Short
850:David Davies
758:Glen Housman
574:John Konrads
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377:29 September
375:. Retrieved
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350:. Retrieved
346:the original
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330:Mallon, Bill
323:
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260:Bloemfontein
257:
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133:South Africa
111:Medal record
94:College team
61:(2019-07-27)
48:Bloemfontein
18:
977:2019 deaths
972:1930 births
712:Max Metzker
689:Max Metzker
620:Ron Jackson
597:Murray Rose
505:Bob Leivers
966:Categories
315:References
40:1930-07-10
482:Noel Ryan
459:Noel Ryan
372:Olympedia
298:See also
84:Swimming
249:swimmer
67:Houston
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352:8 May
80:Sport
75:Sport
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794:1998
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679:1978
656:1974
633:1970
610:1966
587:1962
564:1958
541:1954
518:1950
495:1938
472:1934
449:1930
379:2022
354:2012
56:Died
34:Born
948:AUS
925:AUS
902:CAN
879:CAN
856:WAL
833:AUS
810:AUS
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557:SAF
534:SAF
511:ENG
488:AUS
465:AUS
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