2000
Honorary award citation
At the 4pm ceremony on Wednesday, December 20, Kieren Perkins, OAM will receive a Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa for his outstanding contribution to sport in Australia.
Kieren Perkins' 11-year career included two gold and two silver Olympic medals and 11 world records - two of which, for the 1500m and 800m freestyle long course, still stand.
He is the first swimmer to hold simultaneous Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific titles; and he is the first Australian male since Jon Konrads in 1960 to hold three world records at once. He currently holds three World records, two Commonwealth records and five Australian records.
He is the first Australian (and only the second person) to have won gold for the men's 1500m freestyle event at two consecutive Olympic Games - Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996. He also won silver for the 400m in Barcelona and for the 1500m in Sydney in 2000. He is the first swimmer in Commonwealth history to have won the men's 200m, 400m and 1500 freestyle treble at the Commonwealth Games.