The film shows ten years in the life of Tony Fingleton , from when he was a young boy in the mid-1950s, to the day of the men's 100m backstroke final at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia, Tony was the second of five children of working class parents Harold and Dora Fingleton. It was a dysfunctional family, since Harold, the child of an alcoholic mother who had witnessed his mother's degradation as a prostitute when a child, was violent and unable to show equal love to all his children, and favored those showing sporting prowess. He was physically and emotionally abusive, especially toward Tony and Dora. She tried to protect Tony from that abuse which only angered Harold more. The abuse was exacerbated by Harold's alcoholism, which in turn led to frequent difficulties with money as Harold, who worked at the docks only when ships were in port, was often off work, sometimes due to divisive labour unrest on the wharf, and strikes.