Sandra Morgan
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Sandra Anne Morgan | ||||||||||||||||||
| National team |
 Australia
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| Born |
6 June 1942 Tamworth, New South Wales |
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| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Bankstown | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Sandra Anne Morgan (born 6 June 1942), also known by her married name Sandra Beavis, is an Australian former freestyle swimmer, who won gold in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. At the age of 14 years and 6 months, she became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal, a record that still stands. Morgan began serious training in early 1956 and won Olympic selection for the relay team as well as the 400-metre freestyle. Morgan's selection in the final quartet raised controversy because of her inexperience in top-level racing and her history of false starts. During the final, she lifted her head out of the water and saw her American opponent ahead of her, prompting her to regain the lead with a late burst in the third leg. Australia went on to win the relay in world record time. In her only individual event, Morgan came sixth in the 400-metre freestyle.
In 1957, she won the 110-, 220-, and 440-yard treble at the Australian Championships in the absence of her main rivals, but from that point on her career was plagued by illness and weight problems. She was selected in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games purely as a relay swimmer, winning gold in the event. At her second 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, she only competed in the relay heats; her teammates went on to win silver in the final. She retired from competitive swimming following the Rome Olympics. In retirement, she has continued her involvement in swimming and the Olympics by teaching disabled children to swim and participating in Olympic educational programs and torch relays. She is also an ambassador for Australia Day and has appeared on television as part of her work with Christian groups.
Morgan was born in the north-western New South Wales city of Tamworth, before growing up in Punchbowl, a suburb in western Sydney. Morgan was the oldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother. Her father Barrington, a plumber, had success as a swimmer in his childhood, but a lack of facilities in rural Australia curtailed his career. As a result, he vowed that his daughter would become a national champion. Morgan said her father "became my driving and inspirational force. I not only fulfilled his ambition, but surpassed it by becoming an Olympic champion!" Morgan also cited her meetings with Frederick Lane—Australia's first Olympic gold medallist in swimming—and the Olympic athletics champion Marjorie Jackson-Nelson as key inspirational moments in her career.
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