John Konrads, a former teenage swimming sensation for Australia who won a gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 1960 Rome Olympics and joined with his younger sister, Ilsa, in setting numerous world records, died on April 25 in the Noosa area of eastern Australia, on the Sunshine Coast. He was 78.
His death, at a hospital, was announced by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Swimming World magazine said he had been ill for some time.
The arrival of John and Ilsa in Australia’s swimming spotlight in the late 1950s brought them renown as “the Konrads Kids.