Bert Kinnear

The grandson of Scottish football international Albert Buick, Bert Kinnear served with the Fleet Air Arm during World War II and, during his time based in Florida, taught survival swimming to members of the US Navy. After the War, Kinnear was a member of the Otter Club when he won the ASA 100 yard backstroke title in 1947. The following year he finished eighth at the London Olympics and, representing Scotland at the 1950 Commonwealth Games, won a bronze medal in the 110y back at Auckland, New Zealand. Kinnear quit top-class swimming when he failed to get selected for the 1952 Olympics. He then went on, however, to become a leading coach.

Having earlier studied physical education at Loughborough College, and after retiring from competitive swimming, Kinnear was appointed the college’s senior lecturer and director of swimming. On 1 January 1960, Kinnear took up the post of National Coach (although the ASA refused to use such a term, calling him the Chief National Technical Officer instead!). He changed the way techniques were taught to swimmers and coaches, placing more emphasis on fitness than style. His techniques revolutionised the sport, and laid the foundation for the success of many British swimmers for years to come. Coach to the 1960 and 1964 British Olympic squads, Kinnear quit his post over a matter of principal in 1967, after the ASA appointed an unqualified coach.

Kinnear honoured television commitments for the 1968 Olympics but, having no further involvement in coaching, later ran a restaurant with his wife before retiring to Spain in 1981. In 2011, he was posthumously given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Swimming Coaches Association (BSCA).