Dickson was born in Malaya, where his father was stationed during World War II. He was three months old when he arrived in
Perth, Western Australia. His schooling years were spent in
Malaya,
Geelong and
Bunbury. Dickson was a member of the Bunbury Swimming Club.
Australian Championships • 110 yd freestyle - first in 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965 • 220 yd freestyle - first in 1965
Summer Olympics Dickson was selected to make his international debut at the 1960 Rome Olympics in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. With
John Konrads,
Jon Henricks and
Murray Rose, Dickson broke the world record on 6 August 1960, at the
Tobruk Pool in
Townsville, Queensland. However, in the Olympic final, swimming alongside individual gold medallists
John Devitt,
Murray Rose and
John Konrads, Dickson finished third behind the United States and Japanese teams. Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, Dickson was sent on an international tour to compete, along with Berry, O'Brien and
Bob Windle, in the hope that their honed racecraft would help them in Tokyo. The other three won gold in their respective events, but Dickson was eliminated in the semifinal of the 100m freestyle. Along with
John Ryan, Doak and Windle, Dickson won bronze in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay. He complemented this with another bronze in the 4×100-metre medley relay, alongside Berry, O'Brien and
Peter Reynolds. He narrowly missed a medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, finishing fourth with Windle, Doak and
Allan Wood. He finished ninth in the 100-metre freestyle.
British Empire and Commonwealth Games At the
1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Dickson finished third in the 110-yard freestyle, beaten by
Dick Pound of
Canada and
Bobby McGregor of Scotland. However, Dickson won gold in the 4×110-yard freestyle relay (with Rose,
Peter Doak and
Peter Phelps) and the 4×110-yard medley relay with
Julian Carroll,
Ian O'Brien and
Kevin Berry, all of whom had won their respective individual events. Dickson was accorded the honour of carrying the Australian flag at the
1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. He again took the bronze medal in the 110-yard freestyle, won by fellow Australian
Michael Wenden, and won gold in both the 4×110-yard and 4×220 yd freestyle relays. ==Australian Olympic Committee==