additional payments depending on the success of the company. They later founded a new recruitment firm, K2. Early years Born in Temora, New South Wales, near the regional centre of Wagga Wagga, Kerry was one of two sons born to a car salesman. Kerry's mother was a swimming teacher who ran her own aquatic school. Kerry was taught to swim by his mother, whom he regarded as a perfectionist who emphasised technique and turned him to backstroke. Kerry grew up participating in a wide range of sports, representing Wollongong High School in tennis, athletics and swimming. He also competed four times in the state cross-country championships. Once his family had moved to the seaside city of Wollongong, Kerry developed a love of the surf. He found the ocean water much more exciting due to its unpredictability. Kerry steadily rose through the surf lifesaving ranks, competing at the state and national championships. In 1974, Kerry won the Cadet Malibu event in the Australian Championships, and in 1975 he came second in the surf race at the Australian Open Surfing Championships. In the pool, Kerry had his first competitive race at the age of 12 in 1971. At the time, Brad Cooper—who went on to win the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics—was living in Wollongong and he and Kerry trained together on a regular basis. In 1974, Kerry competed in the Australian Age Championships in freestyle, before moving north to train with John Rigby in Brisbane, Queensland in the following year. At the time of his move, Kerry was ranked around 200th in the world in backstroke. International debut: 1976 Olympics Kerry had improved to such an extent that by November 1975, his times in the 200 m backstroke had dropped from around 2 m 10 s to around 2 m 3.0 s, ranking him third in the world. As a result of his strong performances in the pool, Kerry retired from surf racing. Kerry made his debut at the 1976 Australian Championships, winning the 200 m freestyle and backstroke events in 1 m 54.33 s and 2 m 3.58 s respectively, as well as the 4 × 200 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m medley relays for New South Wales, leading off both relays. Aged 16, Kerry won selection for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke, the 200