Ian Black (swimmer)

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Ian Black

| image =

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| fullname = Ian MacIntosh Black

| nicknames =

| national_team = {{GBR2}}

| strokes = Butterfly, freestyle, medley

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1941|6|27}}

| birth_place = Inverness, Scotland

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| height = {{convert|1.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|72|kg|lb st|abbr=on}}

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{SCO}} }}

|show-medals=yes

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Ian MacIntosh Black (born 27 June 1941) is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in international competition, including the Olympics and European championships, and Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Swimming career

Black was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1958 at the age of only 17, and is still to date the youngest winner of the award."[http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0077/ Ian Black – swimming record breaker 1958] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022221404/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0077/ |date=22 October 2014 }}", BBC Scotland (17 October 2014). Retrieved 24 May 2015. He earned the BBC honour by winning three gold medals in the 400- and 1500-metre freestyle events, as well as the 200-metre butterfly, at the 1958 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary."[http://www.scotsman.com/sport/black-an-original-scottish-sporting-icon-1-1151473 Black an original Scottish sporting icon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524213552/http://www.scotsman.com/sport/black-an-original-scottish-sporting-icon-1-1151473 |date=24 May 2015 }}", The Scotsman (12 December 2008). Retrieved 24 May 2015.Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, Inductees, [http://www.sshf.co.uk/inductees/show/7.html Ian Black] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524193547/http://www.sshf.co.uk/inductees/show/7.html |date=24 May 2015 }}. Retrieved 24 May 2015. In the same year, he also won a gold and two silver medals for Scotland at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales; gold in the 220-yard butterfly, silver in the 440-yard freestyle, and silver in the 4×220-yard freestyle relay.GBRathletics.com, Commonwealth Games Medallists, [http://www.gbrathletics.com/commonwealth/swimming.htm Swimming & Diving (Men)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127005229/http://www.gbrathletics.com/commonwealth/swimming.htm |date=27 January 2017 }}. Retrieved 24 May 2015.

In 1959 he set a new world record in the 400-metre individual medley, 5 minutes 8.8 seconds, a record that would stand for just over a year until broken by swimmer American George Harrison in 1960.

Black qualified to represent Great Britain in three events at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, [https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bl/ian-black-1.html Ian Black] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412015402/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bl/ian-black-1.html |date=12 April 2015 }}. Retrieved 24 May 2015. In the event final of the men's 400-metre freestyle he was placed fourth, posting the same time as Australian John Konrads (4:21.8), but the judges awarded the bronze medal to Konrads. He was also a member of the British teams in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay and 4x100-metre medley relay events, placing fourth and seventh in the finals, respectively.

When competing for Great Britain, he would wear a MacGregor tartan dressing gown poolside. As well as excelling in the water, he was also a formidable rugby union player. In 2002 he became one of the first fifty Scottish men and women inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.

He won the 1958 and 1959 ASA National Championship 110 yards freestyle titles,{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS67459865/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=f29811e6|title="Black Gains Four Swimming Titles." Times, 25 Aug. 1958, p. 4|newspaper=The Times|date=25 August 1958 |page=4 |access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=24 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824102101/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GDCS&u=oxfshlib&id=GALE{{!}}CS67459865&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GDCS&asid=f29811e6|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS252271911/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=a456c31b|title="Best Swimmers Prove IT." Times, 7 Sept. 1959, p. 15|newspaper=The Times|date=7 September 1959 |page=15 |access-date=2 September 2019|archive-date=24 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824102103/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GDCS&u=oxfshlib&id=GALE{{!}}CS252271911&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GDCS&asid=a456c31b|url-status=live}} the 1958 and 1959 ASA National Championship 220 yards freestyle titles, the 1958 and 1959 ASA National Championship 440 yards freestyle titles {{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS50944791/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=a2a73086|title="Swimming Victory For Black." Times, 23 Aug. 1958, p. 3|newspaper=The Times|date=23 August 1958 |page=3 |access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=24 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824102101/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GDCS&u=oxfshlib&id=GALE{{!}}CS50944791&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GDCS&asid=a2a73086|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS51600677/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=1baf4ded|title="Swimmers Protest At Blackpool." Times, 5 Sept. 1959, p. 3|newspaper=The Times|date=5 September 1959 |page=3 |access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=24 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824102102/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GDCS&u=oxfshlib&id=GALE{{!}}CS51600677&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GDCS&asid=1baf4ded|url-status=live}} and the 220 yards butterfly title in 1958 and 1959.{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS67459865/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=f29811e6|title="Black Gains Four Swimming Titles." Times, 25 Aug. 1958, p. 4|newspaper=The Times|date=25 August 1958 |page=4 |access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=24 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824102101/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GDCS&u=oxfshlib&id=GALE{{!}}CS67459865&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GDCS&asid=f29811e6|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS252271911/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=a456c31b|title="Best Swimmers Prove IT." Times, 7 Sept. 1959, p. 15|newspaper=The Times|date=7 September 1959 |page=15 |access-date=2 September 2019|archive-date=24 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824102103/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GDCS&u=oxfshlib&id=GALE{{!}}CS252271911&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GDCS&asid=a456c31b|url-status=live}}

Personal life

Black attended Aberdeen University, where he was awarded a Master of Arts and a Certificate in Education. In the late 1970s he became head teacher of Seafield Primary School in Elgin. He taught in Canada and he became headmaster of St Christopher's prep school in Bahrain. In the early 1980s he was headmaster of Sek Kong Primary School in Hong Kong, before moving to Aberlour House School 1987–89. He later returned to his former school, Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, as headmaster of the Junior School, and retired in 2004.