Poetry In Motion – Nash Pen’s Teammate’s Tribute In Golden Memory Of Silver With Wilkie
Steve Nash, who claimed silver on butterfly in the 4x100m medley at the 1974 European Championships along Colin Cunningham on back, David Wilkie on breaststroke, and Brian Brinkley on freestyle, has penned a tribute poem to his former teammate and 1976 Olympic champion who’s passing was announced yesterday.
State of Swimming asked permission to reproduce Steve’s fine tribute to David Wilkie – and here it is:
A POEM FOR MY LATE FRIEND DAVID WILKIE MBE
Yesterday I was shocked when I saw the sad news,
about how the big C had taken David too soon.
I cast my mind back to a half century ago,
When he stood on the starting block ready to go.
I thought of that day under the hot Vienna sun,
in the medley team final that was about to be swum.
No chance of a medal we were the sixth fastest team,
daunting it was to be against Europe’s cream.
Colin led off with a great backstroke swim,
a British record too and under one minute for him.
Wilkie was next to dive into the pool,
Looking calm and collected and ever so cool.
After the backstroke leg we were placed about sixth,
But a few strokes later David had brought us to fifth.
He reached the half-way closing most of the gap,
His speed and technique making the crowd gasp.
I still see him coming as I shook on the block,
How he’d brought us to second was a hell of a shock,
His breaststroke leg had been a world record split,
Even now makes me nervous when I still think of it.
It was my turn now and the pressure was on,
My butterfly had to be the best I’d ever done.
But my friend had inspired and so gave me strength,
To be put to the test and to do more than my best.
With my friends beside me I so wanted to medal,
I just had to hold off that big East German fellow.
Towards the end of the length he still hadn’t passed me,
and so in second place I handed over to Brinkley.
And I knew that Brian was a tower of strength,
and he managed to swim a superb freestyle leg.
And that’s how it was that we won European silver,
The excitement I felt then still makes me quiver.
The last race of the meet we were all cock-a-hoop,
we even got a mention on Radio Two.
That night in Vienna we all got so pissed,
David thanks for the memory you will be so sorely missed.
David Wilkie (8/03/54 – 22/05/24) R.I.P
Steve married fellow Britain international Diana Sutherland, who competed in five events at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, where Wilkie made his Games debut. Those were the Olympics that starred Shane Gould and her five solo medals, three of them gold and in World-record times (still a solo haul record among women) , and Mark Spitz, whose seven golds in the pool remained a single-Games Olympic record across all sports until Michael Phelps claimed eight golden orbs at Beijing 2008.
Those Games were also marked and marred by the Palestinian terror attack on the Israeli team which Wilkie referred to in a BBC interview in which he notes: “A breaking news story in front of our eyes. Horrific. I was 18. I didn’t see any shooting but you grow up pretty quickly after seeing something like that.”
In 1974, Steve Nash was a part of the relay he refers to in his tribute to Wilkie and it went like this:
FRG: Klaus Steinbach; Walter Kusch; Folkert Meeuw; Peter Nocke – 3:51.57
GBR: Colin Cunningham; David Wilkie; Stephen Nash; Brian Brinkley – 3:54.13
URS: Igor Potyakin; Nikolay Pankin; Viktor Sharygin; Vladimir Bure – 3:54.37
In the same year, Steve was part of the 1974 England team at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he won a bronze medal in the 4x100m medley relay. In 1976, he claimed gold in the 100m butterfly at the Six Nations tournament in Minsk, USSR.
Steve and Diana Nash have been swimmers for life. In 2016, they both claimed European Masters titles and spoke to a local newspaper about in it England.
Thank you Steve Nash for sharing a fine memory of David Wilkie with us and to Peter Heatly for sharing some of the terrific snaps of time gone by but not forgotten thanks to those who treasure them.
Love it man. It was rocking days then. Collela and I were teammates at UW
Thank you Peter for sending the poem & to Steve Nash for his tribute poem about David & the rest of the boys.
David was my brother & he will be missed so much by us all! I’m heartbroken 💔. He fought this horrible disease with great courage, dignity, cheekiness & love. ❤️xx
Sincere condolences, Caroline. Your brother was a truly lovely man – and a great athlete – it was also a pleasure to chat to him on the odd occasion when our paths crossed at events down the years. Kindest regards to you and the family.
Dear Caroline,
My sincere condolences to you and the rest of David’s family. He was so kind to me when I made the team in 1974 (and in Cali in 1975). We also spent a lot of time playing chess to relax between our races. He beat me almost every time – I recall he said that an uncle (?) was a serious chess player and had taught him a few moves. Anyway our games were so enjoyable and used to relieve the pressure for a few hours. May David R.I.P.