Spencer, Tim
(1943 - )
At 10 with sister Shirley, 6, rehearsing at St Moritz Ice Palais Melbourne for Ice Fantasia. The Argus 16 Dec 1954.
CAREER SUMMARY
Birth
June 3rd 1943
South Yarra Melbourne Australia
Coaches
Ted Molony, Jack Gordon [Figure Skating]
Clubs
VIHA Pirates
Goodall Cups
1962, '65, '68
Olympics
1960 Men's Singles [Figure Skating]
1963-4 Playoffs [Ice Hockey]
World Championships
1960 [Figure Skating]
Life Memberships
Nil
Spencer Trio child acrobat
Skating Gold Medal, 1956
BORN JUNE 3RD 1943, Spencer grew up in South Yarra in Melbourne. A capable pianist, he hoped to be a musician. He gained his introduction to ice skating at a St Moritz ice show with his sisters, 8 year-old Fay and 6 year-old Shirley, when they were persuaded to have a try-out on the ice. All three were already well-known nationally as the acrobatic troupe, the Spencer Trio, billed as "the youngest acrobats in the world".
The trio actually skated at their first attempt, and Tim became a proficient skater in just one year at the age of 10 under coaches Ted Molony and Jack Gordon. So too did his younger sisters. They performed in Ice Fantasia at St Moritz in 1954, and tripped around with a bright song and dance act.
Awarded his bronze medal after just 4 months training, Tim won his silver wings after a further 3 months, the youngest in Australia. Former world professional champion, Joyce Macbeth, described him as "Undoubtedly a champion in the making". His sister Shirley was also the youngest bronze medalist in Australia at the age of 6. Achieving a standard in a few months that usually required three years of hard work, coach Jack Gordon predicted Tim would be "a world title prospect".
Remarkably, Tim and his sisters were gold medallist skaters by 1956 and doing newspaper ads for Vegemite. In 1957 and '58, Tim won the men's national figure skating title representing Victoria. In 1960, at just 16, he became Australia's fourth Men's Singles figure skating representative with Bill Cherrell, placed 17th on 1172.2 points in the Squaw Valley Olympics, one place up on Cherrell. He also placed 16th in the 1960 World Championships.
During the fifties, Tim struck up a friendship with aspiring ice hockey player Harold Coles, and the pair practiced together in a back room of the St Moritz ice rink in St Kilda, hitting pucks and balls made of tape-marks at rink walls. He joined the Pirates ice hockey club with Coles and became an alternate captain in the early 1960s. He regularly represented Victoria in the Goodall Cup, winning the trophy on three occasions (1962, 65 and '68) coached by Stan Gray and Rus Jones.
In 1963 in Tokyo, he played forward with Coles in the 1964 Olympic Ice Hockey Playoffs.
[1] Twenty teams wanted to take part at the Innsbruck Winter Games in 1964, leading the organizers to insist their facilities were inadequate and they could not build more. Two nation's dropped out and the OIC-IIHF decided four more would be reduced to two in playoffs in Germany (East versus West) and the Asia-Pacific (Australia versus Japan). If Australia's first ice hockey squad at Squaw Valley in 1960 was a miracle, this was Australia's forgotten miracle on ice. Among the players were 12 Victorians, another who had moved to a Queensland, and 5 New South Welshmen.
Ross Carpenter, 'Spencer, Tim (1943- )', Legends of Australian Ice, Melbourne, Australia, http://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio-spencer.html, accessed online .
How to Loop the Loop, The Canberra Times, 2 Oct 1956, p 11.
The God's Crossing: Australia's Elimination at the 1964 Games, Ross Carpenter, Feb 2015. Online
"Ice Babies" article
Junior Argus, Melbourne, Nov 26 1954.
At 10 with sister Shirley.
Rehearsing at St Moritz Ice Palais, Melbourne, for Ice Fantasia. The Argus, Melbourne, 16 Dec 1954.
With the Pirates
A-grade, Melbourne, 1963.
With Victorian Goodall Cup team
Prince Alfred Park ice rink, Sydney, 1963. Courtesy Ice Hockey Australia. From left, John Thomas (in distance), Harold Coles, Ken Pawsey, Tim Spencer, Noel Derrick (C)
Olympic Qualification Team
Sony Factory rooftop, Tokyo, Japan, 1963. Olympic Playoffs Team, 1963. Bud McEachern (Coach), Russ Carson (Manager) and Syd Hudson (Asst Manager and Trainer) Forwards: Russell Jones (C), Phil Hall (AC), Noel Derrick (AC), Harold Coles, Anthony Martyr, John Thomas, John Miller, Edward Mustar, Ken Pawsey, Tim Spencer. Goalies: Peter Cavanagh, John Stuart. Defence: John Nicholas, Charles Grandy, Elgin Luke, Ken Wellman, John Purcell.
1964 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey playoffs poster, Australia versus Japan, Tokyo, Japan. Courtesy Harold Coles, photograph by Narie Pernat.
1964 Winter Olympics
1963, Olympic playoffs opening ceremony, Australia versus Japan, Tokyo, Japan. Beryl Black Archive.
The Pirates
A-grade, Melbourne, 1965.
The Pirates
A-grade, Melbourne, 1965.
The Pirates
A-grade, Melbourne, 1967.