Conrad Francis

At 26, professional swimmer Conrad Francis is vice president of the Aquatic Academy Sri Lanka and hopes to one day become the national swimming coach for his country.

In 1996 the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka recognised Conrad as a promising swimmer and awarded him the International Olympic Committee Solidarity Scholarship to further his swimming career in Australia.

Conrad went on to represent Sri Lanka in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Though this was certainly an accomplishment, Conrad’s most applauded achievement is as the first and only Sri Lankan swimmer to win gold in the 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly in an open event, which were also new meet records and new Sri Lankan national records, at the Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in China, 2003.

Conrad also attained a Diploma in Sports Development, Recreation and Management flanking his swimming career which he says, “gave me a good inside edge to be a qualified trainer and the knowledge and wisdom to go through the right channels to set up an academy”.

To commemorate his achievements, Conrad was inducted into the 2004 Board of Swinburne Olympians and was elected as a Trustee of the Swinburne University Sports Foundation in 2006.

Then in 2007 he won the JCI TOYP (The Outstanding Young Persons of Sri Lanka) award for personal accomplishment in sports, an award that recognises an outstanding individual whose personal and professional achievements are exemplory and nationally beneficial.

Currently Conrad is residing in Australia, yet his long term goal is to set up an academy in Sri Lanka for athletes, “so I can impart all my learning and experience to sport in Sri Lanka”.