In 1964, Talbot went to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games as the Australian men's swimming coach, a position he held until 1972. He then moved to Canada due to the lack of funding for swimming in Australia. He worked as head coach for both the Thunder Bay Thunderbolts Swim Club and the Canadian national swimming team. While in Canada, he studied for a Bachelor and Master of Psychology at Lakehead University. He then spent two years coaching the United States team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics before the US boycotted the games.