Harold Edward Holt was Australian Prime Minister between January 1966 and December 1967. Like many a politician before him, his time in office was cut short
by premature death. In Holt's case, however, it wasn't heart trouble or cancer that
saw him shuffle off his mortal coil a few overs before the mandated close of play.
No, depending upon who you believe, Harold Holt might be the only national leader to have been devoured by a shark.
A lifelong parliamentarian - he became an MP aged just 27 - Harold Holt fancied himself the face of the new, young, exciting Australia. In his late fifties at the time he took over from retiring PM Robert Menzies, Holt carried on like an aging James Bond, spending hours swimming and snorkeling and surrounding himself with bevvies of young women, much to the amusement of his long-suffering wife Zara.
He also struck up a close friendship with Lyndon Johnson which made him well-liked on the other side of the Pacific but far from popular at home. Not that Harold seemed to care - who could be bothered what Joe Public had to say when the women were so supple, the sun was so strong and the water was so warm?
Christmas was just around the corner when Holt, his bodyguards and close friends Christopher Anderson, Jan Lee and George Illson hit the sand at Victoria's Cheviot Beach. One of the PM's favourite snorkeling spots, the current was very strong on the morning of 17 December. Against the advice of his companions, Holt splashed out into the surf. He was never seen again.
Two days after he went missing, Australia's Governor-General Lord Casey issued a statement that Harold Holt must be presumed dead. Drowning was thought the most likely reason for his passing, although this has been disputed by biographers such as Tom Frame who claimed Holt possessed "incredible powers of endurance underwater".
If he didn't fall foul of the water then perhaps the Prime Minister was killed by an ocean predator - shark attacks aren't that common along the Victorian coast but they do occur from time to time. Or maybe, as cabinet colleague Doug Anthony recently suggested, Holt took his own life.
If these ideas seem outlandish, it's worth baring in mind that there are people on this planet who are convinced that Harold Holt was either abducted by a UFO or picked up by a Chinese submarine, the Prime Minister having been a communist double agent throughout his time in power.
Whatever became of Harold Holt, his disappearance will always have a strange sort of appeal - how many times have you wished your Prime Minister or President would take a run and jump in the ocean? And if you ever needed evidence of Australia's superb sense of humour, look no further than the means by which the country paid tribute to Harold Holt - by naming a swimming pool after him.