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." [1] The inaugural inductees were Freddy Lane, Fanny Durack, Dawn Fraser, Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe. [2] Gould's honour coincided with the 50th anniversary of her first gold medal at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games. [3]
Year | Athletes |
---|---|
2022 | Fred Lane Fanny Durack Dawn Fraser Shane Gould Ian Thorpe |
2023 [4] | Lorraine Crapp Murray Rose Susie O'Neill |
2024 [5] | Boy Charlton Priya Cooper Kieren Perkins |
Ian James Thorpe 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 second most won by any Australian after fellow swimmer Emma McKeon. With three gold and two silver medals, Thorpe was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in his hometown of Sydney.
Frederick Claude Vivian Lane was an Australian swimmer who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Dawn Fraser is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer, eight-time olympic medallist, a 15-year world record holder in the 100-metre freestyle, and former politician. Controversial, yet the winner of countless honours, she has enjoyed national prominence and sparked national pride in Australia. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle.
Shane Elizabeth Gould is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise.
Gary Wayne Hall Jr. is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals. He is a former world record-holder in two relay events. Hall is well known for his "pro-wrestling-like" antics before a competition; frequently strutting onto the pool deck in boxing shorts and robe, shadow boxing and flexing for the audience.
Susan O'Neill, is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.
Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach.
Brenda Villa is an American accomplished water polo player. She is the most decorated athlete in the world of women’s water polo. Villa was named Female Water Polo Player of the Decade for 2000-2009 by the FINA Aquatics World Magazine. She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at four Olympics; and one of two female athletes who won four Olympic medals in water polo. She is a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 31 goals. In 2018, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack, also known by her married name Fanny Gately, was an Australian competition swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer across all distances from freestyle sprints to the mile marathon.
Lorraine Joyce Thurlow,, née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle.
Karen Lynne Moras, also known by her married name Karen Stephenson, is an Australian distance freestyle swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Although she set multiple world records she peaked between Olympics and was unable to capture gold at Olympic level.
Priya Naree Cooper, is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics with an S8 classification. She was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. Cooper has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. She attended university, working on a course in health management. After she ended her competitive Paralympic career, she became a commentator, and covered the swimming events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Kenrick John Monk is an Australian swimmer who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as at an international level through the FINA World Aquatics Championships, Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, and the Commonwealth Games. Outside of the pool, Monk gained attention in 2011 after he falsely claimed to have been involved in a deliberate hit-and-run accident.
Trischa Zorn is an American Paralympic swimmer. Blind from birth, she competed in Paralympic swimming. She is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals, and was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2012. She took the Paralympic Oath for athletes at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta.
Francis Ettore Ponta was an Australian Paralympic competitor and coach. He competed in several sports including basketball, pentathlon, swimming and fencing. A paraplegic, he lost the use of both his legs after a tumour was removed from his spinal column when he was a teenager. Ponta was a member of Australia's first national wheelchair basketball team, and is credited with expanding the sport of wheelchair basketball in Western Australia. At the end of his competitive career, he became a coach, working with athletes such as Louise Sauvage, Priya Cooper, Madison de Rozario, Bruce Wallrodt and Bryan Stitfall. He died on 1 June 2011 at the age of 75 after a long illness.
The 1996 Summer Paralympics were held in the United States city of Atlanta. Australia competed in 13 of the 17 sports, winning medals in 10 of those sports. At the 1996 Summer Paralympics, Australia had the second highest medal tally of any country competing. It won 42 gold, 37 silver and 27 bronze medals. It surpassed the 24 gold medals that Australia won at the 1992 Paralympics. The sports of athletics, swimming and cycling provided Australia with the majority of its medals.
The Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Hall of Fame was created in 2009 to recognise former London Youth Games competitors who have gone on to world class sporting careers and to celebrate the role the Games have had in their development.
Adam Lucas is an Australian Olympic swimmer who specialized in individual medley (IM) events. Lucas represented Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics Games in Athens, Greece, swimming in the 200m IM. Lucas was the Australian Record holder in the Men's short course 100 IM, and won a silver and bronze World Championship medal as a member of 4x200m Freestyle Relay squads at the 2004 World Short Course Championships in Indianapolis, USA, and the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
The Australian Swim Team, also known as The Dolphins, is the national swim team of Australia. The team has a rich history of success at major international championships, with its primary rival being the United States Swimming Team. The nickname 'The Dolphins' was first used in 1989.
Marni Abbott-Peter is a Canadian retired wheelchair basketball player and current head coach of the Canadian senior women's wheelchair basketball team. As a member of Team Canada, she won three gold medals and one bronze during the Paralympic Games as well as four World Championship titles. She was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame in 2015. She is married to fellow Paralympic athlete Richard Peter.