Commonwealth Games Flashback: Mean Machine won gold medals and Australia’s adoration

THEY shaved their heads, they won swimming gold medals and one of their members even tried to break Rod Marsh’s beer drinking record. The “Mean Machine” were part of our 80s swimming resurgence.

30 Jul 1986 /Edinburgh, Scotland — With their heads shaven, the four members of Aust's " mean machine " L/R Greg Fasalla, Mathew Renshaw, Mark Stockwell, Neil Brooks with their gold medals after winning final of the men's 4 x 100m freestyle relay pic AAP sport o/seas britain swimming headshot

SHAVING their heads and coming second wasn’t an option for the Mean Machine, the macho, fun-loving symbol of Australia’s swimming success in the early 1980s.

It perfectly suited the larger-than-life persona of 1980 Olympic gold medallist Neil Brooks, an aggressor in the pool but a generous mentor among his sprint squad pals.

Fellow foundation figure Greg Fasala vividly remembers the elite freestyle relay troupe deciding to step up their image for the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

“We’d had some Mean Machine T-shirts at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (where they won silver) but we looked at creating something more for Edinburgh,” Fasala said.

Australia’s "mean machine " Greg Fasala, Mathew Renshaw, Mark Stockwell, Neil Brooks with their gold medals after winning final of the men's 4 x 100m freestyle in Edinburgh.

“We made some phone calls to Akubra for hats and Driza-Bone for long jackets.

“We couldn’t all shave our heads and come second, not when you are putting yourself out there like that on pool deck.”

The quartet of Fasala, who would win the 100m sprint gold, Brooks, Mark Stockwell and Matt Renshaw duly blitzed the Canadians to grab the 4 x 100m freestyle gold.

The pact for the full nude nut look took more manoeuvring than most imagined.

“Look, Stocky just had a rough head and Matt was probably the most vain because he had to give up his long golden locks,” said Fasala, now coaching at his Waterworx Aquatic Centre in Brisbane.

Before winning gold in Edinburgh they won in Brisbane in 1982 (l-r) Neil Brooks, Graeme Brewer, Michael Delany and Greg Fasala.

“We made the one-in, all-in commitment and that was the magical part of being a team within a team.”

The Mean Machine tag sprung from 1982 in Brisbane where it was the 4 x 100m relay team which delivered Australia’s first gold medal of the Games.

“We set the whole team off on a good note and (then-News Corp) swimming journo Ian Hanson got it rolling by tagging us the Mean Machine,” Fasala said.

“The swimmers had watched a video of the old Burt Reynolds’ movie, The Longest Yard, with the Mean Machine scenes.”

Mike Delaney, Greg Fasala and Neil Brooks at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

When Sydneysider Renshaw visited Brisbane for work recently, he caught up with Stockwell and Fasala. Graeme Brewer and Michael Delany were also members of different Mean Machine incarnations.

The friendships are still strong and Fasala said he remained supportive of Brooks, who denies fraud charges going through the courts.

“People who have never met him don’t understand his big heart ... you’d never write off Neil Brooks and he’ll bring himself back,” Fasala said.

The got so famous that the ‘Mean Machine” of Matthew Renshaw, Mark Stockwell, Neil Brooks and Greg Fasala even appeared in a beer ad.

There was another less publicised “relay” on the flight home from that 1986 Commonwealth Games-World Championships trip when swimmers paced a record attempt.

It was Brooks who attempted to break cricketer Rod Marsh’s famed beer drinking record of 45 cans on a flight from London to Sydney.

“The hosties knew what was going on and even passengers because I remember an older lady walking by the drinking corner saying: ‘How’s it going? Fantastic ... good luck’,” Fasala said.

Neil Brooks is going through the courts on fraud charges.

“When we landed in Sydney, the voice came over the speaker congratulating ‘Neil Brooks for breaking Rod Marsh’s record’.

“We had to prop up Brooksie and move him around at the airport like the corpse in the movie Weekend At Bernie’s.”

Fasala said he loved the quality in Australian sprinting with Kyle Chalmers, Cam McEvoy and Cate and Bronte Campbell stalking gold at next month’s Games on the Gold Coast.

Originally published as Commonwealth Games Flashback: Mean Machine won gold medals and Australia’s adoration