Between July 1971 and January 1972, 15-year-old Shane Gould of Australia set world records in all five internationally recognized freestyle distances: the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500m. She entered the 1972 Munich Olympics with such an overpowering reputation that the swimmers from the United States tried to build their own confidence by wearing t-shirts that read "All that glitters is not Gould." In Munich, Gould would eventually swim in twelve races over an eight-day period, logging 4,200m of competitive swimming in the process. She began with the 200m individual medley, in which she used her freestyle strength to take the lead after 170m and win her first gold medal by breaking Claudia Kolb's four-year-old world record. The next day, Gould finished third in the 100m freestyle behind Americans Sandy Nielson and Shirley Babashoff. It was Gould's first loss at the distance in two years. She rebounded the next day to win the 400m freestyle easily, breaking her own world record by more than two seconds. Two days later, Gould earned her third gold medal and set her third world record in five days when she won the 200m freestyle by holding off Babashoff's strong finish. Gould closed out her Olympic performance with a second place finish in the 800m freestyle. A year later, Shane Gould retired from competition at the age of sixteen and disappeared completely from public life for twenty-five years. After raising four children on a farm in Western Australia, she reemerged and was welcomed as a national hero at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Name:
GOULD, Shane
Other names:
GOULD, Shane Elizabeth
Born:
23 November 1956
Birthplace:
Sydney (Australia)
Nationality:
Australia

Olympic Games:
Gold: 3
Silver: 1
Bronze: 1
Australian National Championships:
Gold: 13 (1971, 1972, 1973)

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