Melanie Renée Schlanger, OAM (born 31 August 1986), also known by her married name Melanie Wright, is an Australian freestyle swimmer. Melanie first represented Australia at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and her career spanned ten years, ending after the 2015 World Championships. She represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics winning five Olympic medals (including 2 gold).

Early life

Melanie was born and raised on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. A participant in a large range of sports, Melanie only began swimming at the age of 14. She completed her secondary school studies at Immanuel Lutheran College. She is the youngest of two siblings, Nikki and Adam, and daughter to Paul and Linda.

Sporting career

Melanie had her first taste of success as a member of the Australian 4×100-metre freestyle relay team that won gold at the 2007 World Championships. The same year, Melanie also broke a world record with Australia's short course 4 x 100 freestyle relay.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics The swimming competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place from 9 to 17 August 2008 at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre. The newly introduced open water marathon events (10 km) were held on 20 and 21 August 2008 at Shunyi Olympic ...

, she swam the third leg in both the heats and the final of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay as Australia claimed the bronze medal. She swam in the heats of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay and collected a gold when the first-choice quartet won the final in a world record time. In 2012 at the London Games, Melanie anchored the 4×100-metre freestyle relay team to overcome a late surge by the Netherlands to win the gold medal for Australia, the only gold medal for the Australian swimming team at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She also won two silver medals in the Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay and Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay. In 2014, she broke a world record as a part of the Gold Medal-winning Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay. The world record surpassed the previous record set in the "super suit" era of swimming. Following the 2015 World Championships, now swimming as Melanie Wright, she suffered a recurrence of a rib stress fracture that plagued the later part of her career. At the same time, Wright gained entry into the medical program at

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...

and retired from the sport to become a doctor. Melanie is a brand ambassador for Speedo, Bodyscience, Brisbane Lions, Qld Games Foundation and the Deniliquin Ute Muster. Melanie now works as a doctor on the Sunshine Coast.

Personal bests

Personal life

Melanie wed fellow Olympic swimmer Chris Wright in September 2014 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the Sou ...

, Australia. Their bridal party included fellow Olympians

Leisel Jones Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal- ...

, Alice Tait (Mills), Christian Sprenger and Gregor Tait. The Wrights have two children, a boy and a girl, and continued studying while raising her children.

Academic Qualifications

2016 – 2020: Doctor of Medicine including Bachelor of Medical Studies –

2013 – 2015: Master of Business Administration (MBA) –

2005 – 2009: Bachelor of Science, Majoring in Biomedicine –

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

2012 – 2012: Diploma of Business – QLD TAFE 2012 – 2012: Certificate III & IV in Fitness – Fitnance

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlanger, Melanie 1986 births Sportspeople from the Sunshine Coast Australian people of German descent Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Living people Commercial Swimming Club swimmers People from Nambour, Queensland World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Australian female freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportswomen from Queensland Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games