Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong (born 7 April 1968) is an Australian former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Armstrong is best remembered for winning a gold and silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Early years Armstrong was born in the Queensland city of Rockhampton, and began swimming at the age of five. Convinced of his potential as a competitive swimmer, his family moved to Brisbane where he began training with the A.C.I. Lawrence Swimming Club as a teenager under flamboyant coach Laurie Lawrence. While training with coach Lawrence, Armstrong swam alongside 1984 Olympic gold medallist Jon Sieben; he viewed Sieben as a role model, and emulating Sieben's Olympic success became Armstrong's goal. He attended the selective Brisbane State High School in Brisbane, where he was captain of the school's swim team. Armstrong graduated from State High in 1985. International swimming career Armstrong made his international swimming debut in the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. He won his first gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle in dramatic fashion by surging from behind after trailing by nearly 25 metres at the midway point of the race. Armstrong earned his second gold medal as a member of the winning Australian team in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. Armstrong arrived in Seoul for the 1988 Summer Olympics ranked 46th in the world, facing a trio of past and current world record holders in the men's 200-metre freestyle: Matt Biondi of the United States, Artur Wojdat of Poland, and Michael Gross of West Germany. Although not favored to win, Armstrong had developed a strong sense of confidence after years of 20 km per day of training. "You look down your lane and know you've done everything you possibly can and you're prepared for this race. Someone has got to win it. Why not me?" As a back-end swimmer, Lawrence planned for Armstrong to swim as close to Biondi's adjacent lane as possible, with Armstrong effectively drafting or surfing the American's wake. At 150 metres, Armstrong was in third place, but he surged past Sweden's Anders Holmertz and then Biondi in the final 25 metres to claim the gold medal with a new world-record time of 1 minute 47.25 seconds. Holmertz placed second (1:47.89), and Biondi finished third (1:47.99). Later, in the men's 400-metre freestyle, Armstrong was once again slow out of the blocks, turning last at the 100-metre mark, and still being