Mr Tom Anderson

Australian Olympic history was made in 1972 at Kiel, when two gold medals in yachting were won on the same day. John Cuneo, Thomas Anderson and John Shaw won the dragon class while David Forbes and John Anderson won the star class. All but David Forbes were Queenslanders.

In 1972, for the first time, the Australian Yachting Federation sent the yachting team overseas ahead of the rest of the Olympic team. To help get a feel for the Baltic Sea where conditions were considerably different from those in Australian waters, the Australians competed in the Dragon Gold Cup races in Denmark three weeks before the Games.

Many of the competitors were also heading for the Olympics, and in their company 'Wyuna' was not particularly impressive. With a bit of luck, however, they did manage to win one race at this regatta. Confidence was restored in a series of races in Travamundi, near the border of East and West Germany where they performed much better.

Tom Anderson became part of Australia's unique Olympic double at the 1972 Olympic Games - he and his identical twin, John won gold medals on the same day in Kiel. However, neither one knows who was first, as they were both out on course at the same time.

Son of a Brisbane bootmaker, Tom inherited his love of sailing from his father, who crewed in four Australian 18-foot championship victories.

Business and family came first after the 1972 games. Tom started his own plumbing business and soon became a father to twins - Elise and Brad, who would also grow up to represent Australia in yachting. However, his passion for sailing continued throughout his life.

Tom passed away in 2010.