Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals. In 2018, she won the fifth season of ''

Australian Survivor ''Australian Survivor'' is an Australian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Survivor'' format. Following the premise of other versions of the ''Survivor'' format, the show features a group of contestants, referred to as " ...

,'' becoming the oldest winner of any ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' franchise. Gould was born in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, but spent most of her childhood in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

after she and her family moved there. After her 1972 Olympic performance, Gould was named the

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...

, and received an MBE in 1981. In April 2018, Gould was awarded an Order of Merit by the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

. Gould returned in the 1990s as a swimming mentor and competitor, and again competed in 2003, specializing in the 200m Individual Medley. In 1999, she published her autobiography ''Tumble Turns''. In 2018, she competed on ''Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders'' and won'','' receiving $500,000 as the Sole Survivor''.'' Gould later returned for '' Australian Survivor: All Stars,'' but was voted out first.

Early education

Gould was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, on the first day of competition of the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. She moved to

with her family at the age of 18 months. By the age of six, she was a competent swimmer. She attended primary school at Brisbane's St. Peters Lutheran College, currently the top-rated swim school in Australia. At St. Peters, a sporting house is named after her. She attended secondary school at Turramurra High School, Sydney, where a sporting house is also named after her and fellow Olympian Gail Neall.Attended Turramura High in Kirson, John, "She's Always Loved the Water", ''Johnson City Press'', Johnson City, Tennessee, 16 November 1972, pg. 12 From around February–June 1973, during her High School Junior year, she attended St. Francis High School in Mountain View, outside Los Altos, California. While at St. Francis, she was coached by Hall of Fame Coach Nort Thornton with the Foothill Aquatics Club. While attending St. Francis, she planned to compete in the Santa Clara International Invitational in June, and Cincinnati's National AAU Championships in April. Two years earlier in the Santa Clara Invitational in July 1971 she set her third world record, lowering the previous mark in the 400-meter freestyle formerly set by Karen Moras in London a few months earlier."Foothill Aquatics Coach Wins Cal Swimming Job", ''The Berkeley Gazette'', Berkeley, California, 19 April 1974, pg. 14"Shane Gould Enrolls at St. Francis", ''The Peninsula Times Tribune'', Palo Alto, California, 21 February 1973, pg. 34

Coaching received

She was trained by leading coaches Ursula and Forbes Carlile and their assistant Tom Green at the Forbes and Ursula Carlile Swimming Organization. She won all of her world swimming titles while a teenager, travelling widely. Carlile, a two-time Olympic Coach for Australia, was a physiologist at the University of Sydney, and at the forefront of providing scientific training to athletes. A leader in the use of interval workouts timed with pace clocks and in the use of heart rate tests for assessing effort, he helped popularize "tapering", a method that slowly reduced training intensity in the weeks before important meets to maximize performance. He helped develop the crawl stroke, focusing on a high speed two beat kick which emphasized the strong use of the arms, a technique studied and adopted by Gould.

Swimming career

1972 Munich Olympics

At the

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, Gould won three gold medals in the 200 and 400-meter freestyle, and the 200-meter individual medley, setting a world record in each race. She won a silver in the 800 and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle events. She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 metres to 1500 metres and the 200-metre individual medley world record simultaneously, which she did from 12 December 1971 to 1 September 1972. She is the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time, and the first swimmer, male or female, to win Olympic medals in five individual events in a single Olympics. She is also the only Australian to win three individual gold medals at a single Olympics. At the age of 16, she retired from competitive swimming, citing pressures placed upon her by her success and media profile. Over two decades later, Gould returned to competitive swimming at the Masters level. She set Australian Masters records (40–44 years 100m, 200 m, and 400 m freestyle, and 100 m butterfly) and 45–49 years (50 m butterfly, 100 m and 200 m freestyle). In 2003, she broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

for the 45–49 years 200 m individual medley in 2:38.13 (beating the 1961 world record for all ages). She coaches swimmers and still swims in Masters competitions.

Later career

Education

Gould returned to study in the late 2000s. She studied at the Sydney Film School (2007, Cert IV documentary film, Digital Filmmaking) and was awarded a Master of Environmental Management (2010, with a thesis on the social uses and functions of public swimming pools), and a Master of Contemporary Art (2012, with a video piece ''Loops and Lines''). Both degrees are from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

. In 2019 she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

Olympics

In the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney, Gould carried the Olympic Torch at the stadium, as one of the runners for the final segment, before the lighting of the

Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

Photography

Gould is a photographer with works on display with the

Art of the Olympians Art of the Olympians (AOTO) is an organization and program of Olympian and Paralympian artists that promotes the Olympic ideals of values, integrity, character, respect, honor, and work ethic through exhibitions and educational programs. It puts ...

Biography

In 1999, Gould published her autobiography ''Tumble Turns: An Autobiography.''

Australian Survivor

In August 2018, it was revealed that Gould would be participating in '' Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders'' and would be a part of the Champions tribe. On 9 October 2018, Gould was crowned the winner of ''Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders'' in a 5–4 vote against criminal barrister Sharn Coombes.' With this win, Gould became the oldest person to ever win any international series of ''Survivor''. She later returned for '' Australian Survivor: All Stars'', but was voted out first, finishing in 24th place.

Personal life

Gould spent most of the years after ending competitive swimming out of the public eye. She married Neil Innes at 18, became a Christian, and lived on a working farm near

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Australia, southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River, Western Australia, Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment ...

in Western Australia's South West. She farmed and taught horseriding and surfing, making very few public appearances. She has four children and eight grandchildren. Her marriage to Innes ended after 22 years, coinciding with a return to public life, and she married Milton Nelms in 2007. On 10 October 2023, Gould was one of 25

Australians of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...

who signed an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.

Publications

*Gould, S. 1999, updated 2003. ''Tumble Turns''. HarperCollins. (autobiography) *Gould, S. 2004. ''Fit for 50+''. Ibis Publishing Australia. *Gould, S. 2007. Appreciating swimming: beauty and instruction with underwater swimmer photographs. ''Visual Communication'' 6: 170–179. doi:10.1177/1470357207077180

Honours and awards

*Best Sportswoman in the World (1971) *ABC Sportswoman of the Year (1971) *ABC Sportswoman of the Year (1972) *

(1972) *

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

"Honor Swimmer" (1977) *Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1981) *

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

(1985) *Olympic Order (1994) *

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

bearer (2000) *

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

(2000) *

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

(2001) *Sole Survivor (2018) Australian Survivor Champions Vs. Contenders *

Swimming Australia Hall of Fame The Swimming Australia Hall of Fame was established in 2022 by Swimming Australia "to both recognise and celebrate those athletes and coaches who have left an indelible mark on the sport at the international level." The inaugural inductees were Fr ...

(2022) - inaugural inductee. Rivercat MV Shane Gould at Huntleys Point

In 1993, the

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

named a RiverCat ferry after Gould.

References

External links

* *
On Bicheno Beach
Documentary produced by

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Shane 1956 births Olympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Australian swimming coaches Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Australian of the Year Award winners World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female medley swimmers Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Members of the Order of Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportswomen from New South Wales Living people Swimmers from Sydney Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Survivor (franchise) winners Australian republicans 20th-century Australian sportswomen People educated at St Peters Lutheran College