his second Olympics, along with Monckton. Theile arrived in Rome as an outsider, despite being the defending champion as he had not regained his form of four years prior, with Robert Bennett and Frank McKinney of the United States posting faster times. This appeared to be the case in the heats, with Theile posting the third fastest time behind the American duo. In the semifinals, Bennett was unable to repeat his earlier performance and Theile won, while McKinney won the other semifinal, also in a time slower than Theile. Theile was confident approaching the final, recounting "I had great faith in myself and my abilities. I had a short, sharp peak, which meant that I had to save everything for that burst and then exert everything I had for precisely that moment." Theile attacked at the outset in the final, as was his style, and held a slender lead at the 50-metre mark over McKinney and Bennett. Theile made a good turn, lengthening his lead to half a body length, before holding off a late surge to claim consecutive gold medals, defeating McKinney by just 0.2 s, setting a new Olympic record in the event. For the first time, the 4×100-metre medley relay was contested at the Olympics, and combining with Terry Gathercole, Neville Hayes and Geoff Shipton, the Australians finished well behind the Americans to win the silver medal. After the games, FINA announced that the 100-metre would be dropped in favour of the 200-metre backstroke. Theile, a sprinter, immediately announced his retirement thereafter. He completed his medical studies in 1962, and was a member of the organising committee of the 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane. Medical career Theile undertook post-graduate training as a Resident and Surgical Registrar at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, and was awarded a fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1967. After obtaining further experience in the United Kingdom, in 1974 he entered private practice as a general surgeon in Brisbane, and was appointed to the visiting staff of the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Over the succeeding 25 years, Theile earned an array of professional accolades. Alongside his fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, he was made a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College