Noosa coach had stars in her eyes for early swim star John Konrads

Like many young teenagers growing up in 1950s Australia, Noosa’s Jan Croft had a crush on one of the early superstars of Australian swimming John Konrads.

Swimming great John Konrads has died, aged 78.

Like many young teenagers growing up in 1950s Australia, Noosa’s Jan Croft had a crush on one of the early superstars of Australian swimming John Konrads.

Ms Croft is one of the many mourning Konrads’ death after he passed on Sunday, age 78.

The 1960 Rome Olympics 1500m gold medallist’s other achievements included blitzing the Empire Games in Cardiff with three golden swims as a 16-year-old.

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Swimming Australia’s former media director Ian Hanson said Konrads died in Noosa Hospital after a long illness.

The Konrads, Ilsa and John, were a force to be reckoned with in world swimming thanks to their coach Don Talbot (centre).

Back in the 1950s Konrads and his little sister Ilsa took the swimming world by storm, smashing world records seemingly at will under Sydney-based coach Don Talbot.

But a starry-eyed young Croft saw the teen swimming idol as more a heartbreaker.

“He was very charismatic young man and even in his latter years he was very charming,” said Croft, a former 800m freestyle swimmer who now coaches a masters squad at the Noosa Aquatic Centre.

“As a kid he had so much personality.

“Every magazine you picked up, every Women’s Weekly, Women’s Day featured them (the Konrads),” Croft said.

Back when Australia’s swimming elite headed north to the tropical temperatures of Townsville for training, Croft could not resist breaking the rules to see the Konrads poolside.

She was living in Ayr at the time.

Noosa local swimming and triathlon identity Jan Croft has fond memories of John Konrads.

“I think every young person who was in swimming clubs scattered throughout North Queensland wanted to go and see the Konrads swim,” Croft said.

“I can remember wagging school and going up to Townsville to watch him train for a couple of hours in the morning and then I was back in the afternoon.

“We thought he was very handsome.”

In 1958 as a squad member of famed swimming coach Forbes Carlisle, she also got to swim at the same training camp as her heroes.

Born in Latvia in 1942, Konrads arrived with his family in 1949 and lived at first in a migrant hostel.

He would go on to have a successful business career which included heading the Australasian operations for personal care products company L’Oreal.

He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.

After moving to Noosa, Konrads in 2014 took on a coaching role at Noosa Aquatic Centre.