Susan O'Neill, (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from

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 South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.

Early life

Susan (Susie) O'Neill was born on 2 August 1973 in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensla ...

, to Trish and John O'Neill. She has two siblings, a brother and a sister. Her family moved to

and she was educated at

Lourdes Hill College , motto_translation = Look to the Star and Call Upon Mary , established = , founders = Sisters of the Good Samaritan , type = Good Samaritan Education secondary day school , gender ...

(LHC) in

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

. Whilst at LHC, O'Neill excelled in sport, setting school records in 50 m and 100 m butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke. She was also LHC cross country champion and set records for the 13 years 800 m in 1986 and for the 15 years 400 m in 1988 for athletics. All these records still stood as of 2011.

Swimming career

O'Neill won the 200m butterfly at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 200m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She has won 35 Australian titles, 8 Olympic medals including 2 gold, and 24 gold medals in major international competitions. Only

Emma McKeon Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time world record holder, one current and three former, in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the ...

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

and

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 ...

have won more Olympic medals for Australia. At her international debut at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, she won two medals (gold and silver), and continued to add to her medals cache at every international competition until her final Olympics. In front of a home crowd at the 2000 Olympic Games Trials she broke the 19-year standing world record of another "Madame Butterfly", Mary T. Meagher, in the 200m butterfly, but was beaten in an upset at the 2000 Olympic Games by American

Misty Hyman Misty Dawn Marie Hyman (born March 23, 1979) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. Hyman won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter butterfly at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. I ...

. She trained under Bernie Wakefield until 1994, then Scott Volkers at the Commercial Swimming Club in Brisbane.

Post swimming career

O'Neill is an ambassador for the

Fred Hollows Foundation The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-profit aid organisation based in Sydney, Australia, which was founded in 1992 by eye surgeon Fred Hollows. The foundation focuses on treating and preventing blindness and other vision problems. It opera ...

. She provided commentary at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. She was the Oceania athletes' representative on the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

from 2000 to 2005. When she resigned her membership she was replaced by

Barbara Kendall Barbara Anne Kendall (born 30 August 1967) is a former boardsailor from New Zealand. She competed at five Summer Olympic Games and won gold, silver and bronze medals. Biography Kendall was born in Papakura on 30 August 1967, the daughter of ...

. On 10 March 2007 during the 12th FINA World Championship, O'Neill was honoured by the dedication of the temporary swimming pool in the

Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year. History Replacing ...

in Melbourne named after her for the duration of the competition. O'Neill is a co-host on Nova 106.9's breakfast radio show '' Ash, Luttsy & Susie''. On 14 February 2018, O'Neill released a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

entitled "My Heart Goes Boom". In May 2019, O'Neill was announced as Australia's joint Deputy Chef de Mission for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, with fellow Olympians, Evelyn Halls and

Kim Brennan Kimberley Jean "Kim" Brennan (née Crow; born 9 August 1985) is a retired Australian rower. She is a sixteen-time national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and Olympic gold medallist. Personal Crow was born in Melbourne ...

Honours and awards

* 1996 – awarded the World Trophy for Australasia. * 1996 – joint winner with Jackie Gallagher of the

Australian Sport Awards The Australian Sport Awards, originally called the Sport Australia Awards, were established by the Confederation of Australian Sport in 1980. From 1980 to 1996, the awards were limited to seven categories. In 1993, there was a merger of the Sport ...

Female Athlete of the Year * 1997 – Australian Day Honours, O'Neill was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

() "for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996." * 1998 – awarded the

Female Athlete of the Year * 1998 – was named Favourite Female Sports Star at the 1998 and the 1999 Australian People's Choice Awards. * 14 July 2000 – awarded the

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, offi ...

for "her significant contribution as a competitor in swimming". * 2000 – the State Transit Authority named a SuperCat ferry after O'Neill. * 2000 – At the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, she was elected to the

Athletes' Commission by competitors at the 2000 Games, but family obligations caused her to resign in 2005. * 1 January 2001 – awarded the Centenary Medal "For service to the community through health". * 5 December 2002 – inducted into

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 Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

. * 2009 – inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. * In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, O'Neill was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for her role as a "sports legend". * 2012 – elevated to become Sport Australia Hall of Fame's 34th Legend of Australian Sport. * 2018 – appointed Member of the Order of Australia () in

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all Order (distinction), orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarchy of Australia, Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister a ...

"For significant service to swimming at the elite level, as a mentor and role model, and to the community through support for charitable organisations."

Personal life

O'Neill married Cliff Fairley, who works as an ophthalmologist, in 1998. They have two children.

Philanthropy

O'Neil and her husband help generously utilize their activism help to raise awareness for the Fred Hollows Foundation, becoming one of its distinguished ambassadors. The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that educates surgeons on how to cure avoidable

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

within underserved communities and countries.

References

External links

* *
Olympic Swimmer Susie O'Neill
– ABC Queensland (Australian Broadcasting Corporation website)
Susie O'Neill – Elite Sports Properties
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Susie 1973 births Living people Australian Swimmers of the Year Commercial Swimming Club swimmers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female butterfly swimmers World record setters in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Australian International Olympic Committee members Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic swimmers of Australia People educated at Lourdes Hill College Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Recipients of the Centenary Medal Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportswomen from Queensland Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers from Brisbane Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming International Olympic Committee members Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian women