While most teenagers spend their time hanging out with friends, Eamon spent his teenage years in the pool, taking out first place in the 50m freestyle and second place in the 100m freestyle swim in his age group at the 2002 Australian Age Swimming Championships. Just 2 years later, his competitive achievements coupled with his consistent dedication to training landed him in the 2004 Olympic trials. His successes in the trials nabbed him a position in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay team, making 18-year-old Eamon the youngest male on the Australian swim team at the Athens Olympics.
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In the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, he set a new Commonwealth record, taking home the gold in 4 × 100m medley and silver in 4×100 m freestyle. Later that same year, Eamon broke the national record for the 50m swim at the Australian National Championships, completing the race in just 22.00 s.
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In July 2007, Sullivan won the 50m freestyle at the Santa Clara International Invitational Grand Prix. July also saw him set a new record in the 50m short course Australian record at Telstra Grand Prix 2 in Canberra, beating the previous record set by Brett Hawke 7 years prior, slashing it by 0.07 s with a time of 21.62 s. Eamon set a new world record at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as he lead the Australian men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay with a time of 47.24 seconds, winning bronze in the final. When Eamon’s new record time was beaten shortly afterwards by 0.04 seconds, Sullivan reclaimed the world record in the second semi-final with an impressive time of 47.05 s. In the finals, Sullivan claimed his fourth Olympic medal, taking home the silver.
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Eamon went on to compete in the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai and again with the Australian men's 4 × 100m relay team in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
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Eamon’s astonishing swimming career was unfortunately cut short by injuries which led to his retirement in 2014. However, in the words of former teammate and Australian swimming champion, Michael Klim,“Even though this career was sometimes plagued with injuries, he always found it in himself through sheer determination to perform to the best of his ability, which made him one of the toughest and best sprint swimmers Australia has ever seen. He has left a great mark on the sport which will be remembered forever.”
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2007 World Championships
\n\n50m Freestyle 5th
\n\n100m Freestyle Bronze
\n\n4 × 100m Freestyle 5th
\n\n4 × 100m Medley Gold
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2004 Olympics
\n\n4 × 100m Freestyle 6th
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2008 Olympics
\n\n50m Freestyle 6th
\n\n100m Freestyle Silver
\n\n4 × 100m Freestyle Bronze
\n\n4 × 100m Medley Silver
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