At the 1950 British Empire Games he won a gold medal as part of the men's 880 yards Freestyle Relay and two bronze medals in the 440 and 1650 yards freestyle races.[2]
Lucas won a swimming scholarship to the University of Iowa in 1951, becoming the first New Zealander to win a sports scholarship to the United States. Lucas travelled to Iowa via the United Kingdom, where he won the 220 yards and 440 yards freestyle events at the British championships.[1] In 1952, despite being rated the second-best swimmer in the British Empire, his nomination for the New Zealand team for the Helsinki Olympics was rejected.[3]
After his return to New Zealand from Iowa in 1957, Lucas worked in his father's menswear store in Queen Street, Auckland, and later was a sales representative for May & Baker.[3] He was active in surf lifesaving, having joined the Piha Surf Life Saving Club in 1944,[4] and served as the club's president for 16 years.[1] In 1958 he won the men's open individual surf race at the New Zealand national surf lifesaving championships.[5]
Lucas died in Auckland in 2002 after a short illness.[1][6]
