Susan O'NEILL

Susie O’Neill’s record approaches that of Dawn Fraser among Australian distaff swimmers. O’Neill competed at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympic Games, winning eight medals, including individual gold medals in the 200 butterfly in 1996 and the 200 freestyle in 2000. Her top career performance may have come at the 1999 World Championships when she won the 200 fly, breaking the 19-year-old world record that had been set by Mary T. Meagher. O’Neill was remarkably consistent. Between 1990 and 2000, she never failed to win a medal at an international competition. She won 10 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, the most by any Australian in any sport. O’Neill was named Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 1996 and 1998, and in 1997, was given the Order of Australia. Shortly after the Sydney Olympics, O’Neill was elected by her peers as an Athlete Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). She resigned from this membership in January 2005, citing family commitments.