Brinkley must be Peterborough's most experienced Olympian. In successive Games in the 1970s, he competed in 11 different events.
The former Orton Longueville School pupil had picked up a gold, silver and bronze in the Commonwealth Games which prec
eded the Montreal Olympics, but he was happy to settle for a bronze in the big one.
That arrived in the 4x200m relay. Brinkley took over in the final leg in fourth place, but eased past a German swimmer in the last 50m to the joy of his team-mates.
Brinkley said: "I knew I'd have to work hard to overtake the German, but my team-mates all produced personal best swims and I knew I had to the same."
Brinkley quit soon after the highlight of his long international career – he won 49 national titles ranging in distance from 100m to 1500m – to become a highly successful coach with the City of Peterborough Swimming club.
Meet more Olympians: Chief Sports Writer Alan Swann has traced sportsmen and sportswomen who attended the Olympics while living in the Peterborough area.
The full article contains 188 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
