Shane Gould facts for kids
Gould in 1973
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 23 November 1956 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Neil Innes (1974) Milton Nelms (2007) |
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| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, medley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Forbes Carlile Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Forbes Carlile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is a famous Australian former swimmer. She is known for her amazing performance at the 1972 Summer Olympics. There, she won three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze. She was the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals at a single Olympics.
In 2018, Shane Gould also won the fifth season of Australian Survivor. This made her the oldest person to win any Survivor show around the world. She was named the Australian of the Year after her Olympic success. She also received an award called the Order of Merit from the Australian Olympic Committee in 2018.
Gould later returned to swimming as a mentor and competitor in the 1990s. She competed again in 2003, focusing on the 200m Individual Medley. She wrote her autobiography, Tumble Turns, in 1999.
Contents
Early Life and School
Shane Gould was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This was on the first day of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. When she was 18 months old, her family moved to Fiji. By the time she was six, she was already a very good swimmer.
She went to primary school at Brisbane's St. Peters Lutheran College. This school is now known as a top swim school in Australia. A sports house at St. Peters is named after her. For high school, she attended Turramurra High School in Sydney. Another sports house there is named after her and fellow Olympian Gail Neall.
For a few months in 1973, during her junior year of high school, she went to St. Francis High School in California. While there, she trained with coach Nort Thornton.
Learning from Top Coaches
Shane Gould was trained by famous coaches Ursula and Forbes Carlile. Their assistant, Tom Green, also helped her. She won all her world swimming titles when she was still a teenager. She traveled a lot for competitions.
Forbes Carlile was an Olympic Coach for Australia twice. He was a scientist who studied how the body works. He was a leader in using scientific methods for athlete training. He used things like interval workouts and heart rate tests to help swimmers train better. He also helped make "tapering" popular. This is when athletes slowly reduce their training before big competitions to be at their best. Carlile also helped improve the crawl stroke, focusing on strong arm movements. Shane Gould learned and used this technique.
Amazing Swimming Career
1972 Munich Olympics Success
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At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, Shane Gould was incredible. She won three gold medals. These were in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and 200-meter individual medley. She set a new world record in each of these races!
She also won a silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle. And she earned a bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle. This made her the first swimmer, male or female, to win Olympic medals in five different individual events at one Olympics. She is also the only Australian to win three individual gold medals at a single Olympics.
Shane Gould holds a unique record. From December 1971 to September 1972, she held every world freestyle record. This included distances from 100 meters to 1500 meters. She also held the 200-meter individual medley world record at the same time.
At just 16 years old, she decided to stop competitive swimming. She felt a lot of pressure because of her success and how famous she had become.
Returning to the Pool
More than 20 years later, Shane Gould returned to swimming. She competed in Masters level events, which are for older athletes. She set new Australian Masters records for her age group. These included records in freestyle and butterfly events. In 2003, she even broke a world record for her age group (45-49 years) in the 200m individual medley. Her time was 2:38.13, which was faster than the world record for all ages set in 1961!
Today, she still coaches swimmers and competes in Masters events.
Life After Competitive Swimming
Further Education
Shane Gould went back to school in the late 2000s. She studied filmmaking at the Sydney Film School in 2007. She then earned a Master of Environmental Management degree in 2010. Her thesis was about how public swimming pools are used. In 2012, she got a Master of Contemporary Art degree. Both of these degrees are from the University of Tasmania. In 2019, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from Victoria University.
Olympic Torch Bearer
At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Shane Gould was chosen for a special role. She was one of the people who carried the Olympic Torch into the stadium. This was part of the final journey before the Olympic Flame was lit.
Author and Photographer
In 1999, Shane Gould published her autobiography. It was called Tumble Turns: An Autobiography. She is also a photographer. Some of her works are shown with the Art of the Olympians.
Australian Survivor Champion
In August 2018, it was announced that Shane Gould would be on Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders. She was part of the "Champions" team. On 9 October 2018, Shane Gould won the show! She received $500,000 as the "Sole Survivor". This made her the oldest person ever to win any Survivor series around the world.
She later came back for Australian Survivor: All Stars. However, she was the first person voted out in that season.
Personal Life
After she stopped competitive swimming, Shane Gould lived a quiet life away from the public eye for many years. She married Neil Innes when she was 18. They lived on a farm near Margaret River in Western Australia. She farmed, taught horse riding, and surfing. She has four children and eight grandchildren.
Her marriage to Neil Innes ended after 22 years. After this, she started to be more in the public eye again. She married Milton Nelms in 2007.
In October 2023, Shane Gould was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter. This letter supported the "Yes" vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum.
Awards and Recognition
- Best Sportswoman in the World (1971)
- ABC Sportswoman of the Year (1971)
- ABC Sportswoman of the Year (1972)
- Australian of the Year (1972)
- International Swimming Hall of Fame "Honor Swimmer" (1977)
- Member of the Order of the British Empire (1981)
- Sport Australia Hall of Fame (1985)
- Olympic Order (1994)
- Olympic Torch bearer (2000)
- Australian Sports Medal (2000)
- Centenary Medal (2001)
- Sole Survivor (2018) Australian Survivor Champions Vs. Contenders
- Swimming Australia Hall of Fame (2022) - she was one of the first people to be included.
In 1993, a RiverCat ferry was named after Shane Gould.
See also
In Spanish: Shane Gould para niños
- List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
- List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
- World record progression 100 metres freestyle
- World record progression 200 metres freestyle
- World record progression 200 metres individual medley
- World record progression 400 metres freestyle
- World record progression 800 metres freestyle
- World record progression 1500 metres freestyle
