Sir Robert David Garrick Agnew CBE (21 September 1930 – 3 August 1987[1]) was an Australian competition swimmer and businessman.

In 1950 received an offer to attend Yale University on an athletic scholarship where he would swim alongside his Australian rival John Marshall.

[8][9][10] As a 17-year-old Agnew went to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, competing in the 400-metre and 1500 metre freestyle events though he did not make it past the heats.

[14] Agnew spent time in 1954 working in Manila with Gus Trippe, an American he met at Harvard.

On returning to Perth in 1955, Agnew was part of a partnership, including Trippe, that purchased a steam boat to ship live cattle from Anna Plains Station in northwest Western Australia to The Philippines.

He regularly made a trip of over 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi) from Perth to Cairns to catch large fish.

[20] In 1983 he set a Western Australian record when he caught a 319 kg (703 lb) Pacific blue marlin.