Shane Elizabeth Gould AM MBE (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise.

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Shane Gould
AM MBE

Gould in 1973
Personal information
Full name	Shane Elizabeth Gould
National team	Australia
Born	(1956-11-23) 23 November 1956 (age 67) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, medley
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  Australia Olympic Games 1972 Munich 200 m freestyle 1972 Munich 400 m freestyle 1972 Munich 200 m medley 1972 Munich 800 m freestyle 1972 Munich 100 m freestyle

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Gould was born in Australia, but spent most of her childhood in Fiji after she and her family moved there. At age 15, Gould competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, winning three gold medals. Gould was named the Australian of the Year in 1972, and received an MBE in 1983. In April 2018, Gould was awarded an Order of Merit by the Australian Olympic Committee.^[1][2]

Gould returned in the 1990s as a swimming mentor and competitor. She competed in competitive swimming again in 2003, participating in the 200m Individual Medley.^[3] In 1999, she published her autobiography Tumble Turns. In 2018, she competed on Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders and won, winning $500,000 as the Sole Survivor.^[4] Gould later returned for Australian Survivor: All Stars, but was voted out first.

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2023)

Gould was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on the first day of competition of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. She moved to Fiji with her family at the age of 18 months. By the age of six, she was a competent swimmer. She attended primary school at St. Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane, where a sporting house is named after her, and secondary school at Turramurra High School, Sydney, where a sporting house is also named after her and fellow Olympian Gail Neall.

She was trained by leading coaches Forbes and Ursula Carlile and their assistant Tom Green. She won all of her world swimming titles while a teenager, travelling widely.

At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, Gould won three gold medals, setting a world record in each race. She also won a bronze and a silver medal.^[5][6]

She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 metres to 1500 metres and the 200-metre individual medley world record simultaneously, which she did from 12 December 1971 to 1 September 1972. She is the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time, and the first swimmer, male or female, to win Olympic medals in five individual events in a single Olympics. She is also the only Australian to win three individual gold medals at a single Olympics.^[7]

At the age of 16, she retired from competitive swimming, citing pressures placed upon her by her success and media profile.

Over two decades later, Gould returned to competitive swimming at Masters level. She set Australian Masters records (40–44 years 100m, 200 m, and 400 m freestyle, and 100 m butterfly) and 45–49 years (50 m butterfly, 100 m and 200 m freestyle). In 2003, she broke the world record for the 45–49 years 200 m individual medley in 2:38.13 (beating the 1961 world record for all ages).^[8]

She coaches swimmers and still swims in Masters competitions.^[9]

Gould spent most of the years after ending competitive swimming out of the public eye. She married Neil Innes at 18, became a Christian, and lived on a working farm near Margaret River in Western Australia's South West. She farmed and taught horseriding and surfing, making very few public appearances. She has four children and three grandchildren.^[10]

Her marriage to Innes ended after 22 years, coinciding with a return to public life,^[16] and she married Milton Nelms in 2007.^[17][18]

On 10 October 2023, Gould was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.^[19][20]

• Gould, S. 1999, updated 2003. Tumble Turns. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780732277673 (autobiography)
• Gould, S. 2004. Fit for 50+. Ibis Publishing Australia.
• Gould, S. 2007. Appreciating swimming: beauty and instruction with underwater swimmer photographs. Visual Communication 6: 170–179. doi:10.1177/1470357207077180

• Best Sportswoman in the World (1971)
• ABC Sportswoman of the Year (1971)
• ABC Sportswoman of the Year (1972)
• Australian of the Year (1972)^[21]
• International Swimming Hall of Fame "Honor Swimmer" (1977)^[22]
• Member of the Order of the British Empire (1981)^[23]
• Sport Australia Hall of Fame (1985)^[24]
• Olympic Order (1994)
• Olympic Torch bearer (2000)
• Australian Sports Medal (2000)^[25]
• Centenary Medal (2001)^[26]
• Sole Survivor (2018) Australian Survivor Champions Vs. Contenders ^[27]
• Swimming Australia Hall of Fame (2022) - inaugural inductee.^[28]

In 1993, the State Transit Authority named a RiverCat ferry after Gould.

• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle
• World record progression 200 metres freestyle
• World record progression 200 metres individual medley
• World record progression 400 metres freestyle
• World record progression 800 metres freestyle
• World record progression 1500 metres freestyle