Sydney, Australia, may have kangaroos, boomerangs and a world-famous opera house, but it is missing one important person - Brett Hawke.
Hawke left his native city, Sydney, in 2006 and returned to Auburn, his alma mater, to pursue a career in coaching for arguably one of the strongest collegiate swimming and diving programs in the U.S.
"I think I just wanted to hand back some of the knowledge and information that I have built up over the years as a professional athlete," Hawke said. "I wanted to give back to the sport."
Hawke is halfway through his first season as head coach of the men's and women's swimming and diving teams, making this his fourth season as a member of the coaching staff at Auburn.
Hawke spent his first two seasons as an assistant coach, and last year, he served as co-head coach when former head coach Richard Quick stepped down after being diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor in December 2008.
Quick passed away from the disease June 10, 2009.
Hawke said coping with Quick's death has been one of the biggest challenges he has faced.
"I took a lot of what he told me in the short time that I had with him and applied it to what I'm doing now," Hawke said.
The men's team seems to have flourished since Hawke took over, winning its eighth national title in the 2009 Men's Swimming and Diving NCAA Championship.
The Tigers received other accolades during the championship meet, including 54 All-American honors, one individual title and four relay titles, according to the Auburn Swimming and Diving Web site.
Hawke said his greatest career accomplishment was coaching Auburn sprinter Cesar Cielo to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2008 in the 50-meter freestyle.
Hawke served as an assistant coach with the Brazilian national team during the 2009 World Championships and, along with Cielo, trained Fred Bousquet and Matt Targett.
With Hawke's guidance, Cielo won two gold medals, and Bousquet and Targett each won a silver and bronze medal.
As a collegiate swimmer, Hawke was a 17-time All-American swimmer for Auburn from 1997 to 1999, earning a total of nine NCAA titles and seven SEC titles.
Hawke came home from the 1997 NCAA meet with four titles, and his performance in the 200-meter medley relay helped the team set a new NCAA and U.S. Open record.
In addition, Hawke earned the second 50-meter freestyle title in Auburn history.
He was a member of three SEC championship teams and the 1999 NCAA championship team, which captured Auburn's second NCAA title.
"I was on the first national championship team, and then I swam professionally for Australia for seven years and went to two Olympics," Hawke said.
Hawke placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
He earned three medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, a bronze medal at the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships and was a World Championship finalist in 2001 and 2003.
Before dedicating his life to coaching, Hawke became a five-time Australian champion and former record holder in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.07, which he set in the semifinal round in Athens at the 2004 Olympic Games.
This husband and father of four said one of his favorite things about coaching is the variety it brings each day.
"It's always something new, something fresh," Hawke said. "It keeps me out of the office and on a pool deck, and that's where I feel comfortable."
Hawke's favorite advice for his athletes seems to have worked well for him, too.
"Don't cut corners and just work real hard," Hawke said. "I think it will pay off in the end."
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