Shane Gould MBE (b. 1956)
1972 Award

Olympic Swimmer

In her brief but spectacular career Gould was the first woman to hold every world freestyle record from 100 metres to 1500 meters between 1971 and 1972 when she was 14 and 15 years old. She broke Dawn Fraser's eight year old 100 meter record and, at the Munich Olympics in 1972, she was Australia's most successful competitor at any Olympic Games, winning three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. As a fifteen year old, she was the youngest individual Australian to win an Olympic gold medal. After the 1972 Olympics she retired, tired of swimming, and of the constant pressure on her to break more records.

She hated the way her fame had made her a public commodity. Despite her youth, Gould was an extremely self-disciplined swimmer and continued to achieve excellent school results while pursuing a punishing training schedule. She was selected as Australian of the Year for 'the high degree of credit she had brought Australia and her wonderful personality'. She accepted 'on behalf of all those young Australians striving for excellence and a better way of life'.