Neville Hayes was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s, who won two silver medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, in the 200m butterfly and the 4x100m medley relay. Hailing from Hurstville in southern Sydney, Hayes set world records in both the 110yd and 220yd butterfly in the lead-up to the 1960 Games. However, the 100m butterfly was not contested as an individual event in that era. Hayes was aiming for success in the 200m butterfly, but came up against the United States' Michael Troy. Although Hayes improved his personal best by three seconds in the final, Troy was a further two seconds ahead, and broke his own world record. Hayes claimed the silver, with fellow Australian Kevin Berry in sixth place. Hayes then combined with David Theile, Terry Gathercole and Geoff Shipton to claim a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay, the first time the event was held at the Olympics, again behind the American team. In 1962, Hayes was usurped as Australia's leading butterflier when Berry defeated him at a dual meet between Australia and Japan. Later that year at the Empire Games in Perth, Berry defeated Hayes into silver the 100m butterfly by almost three seconds. 

December 2nd, 1943 in Hurstville as Neville Ronald Hayes  /  Died:   Jun 28th, 2022