Mark Tonelli has more than his fair share of interesting stories.
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Those stories have shaped his career – as an Olympic swimmer, a journalist, television presenter, coach, salesman and motivational speaker.
Mr Tonelli is just one of many intriguing lives to be honoured across the Riverina this Australia Day, as an ambassador for the Lockhart Shire Council.
He was selected as a 16-year-old at the 1973 world championships before going on to compete at the 1974 Commonwealth games in Christchurch where he won gold at the 100 metre backstroke.
Controversy clouded his success when he was expelled from the Australian team in 1978 for disciplinary reasons, missing out on his eighth Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Mr Tonelli fought his way back to win selection for the controversial 1980 Olympic Games.
He was an athletes' spokesperson who successfully fought for the right of Australian Olympians to compete.
The 4 × 100 metre medley relay was a key turning point of Mr Tonelli's Moscow campaign.
Mr Tonelli swam the butterfly leg, despite having never competed internationally in that discipline, smashing his personal best. His success was part of a famous victory where Norman May’s famous catch cry “Gold, Gold, Gold” was first coined.