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.
Early life
Susan O'Neill was born on 2 August 1973 in Mackay, Queensland to mother, Trish and father, John. She has two siblings, a brother and a sister. Her family moved to Brisbane and she was educated at Lourdes Hill College in Hawthorne. 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 200 m butterfly at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 200 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She won 35 Australian titles and with eight Olympics medals, among Australians, only Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones have more. After winning a gold and a silver medal in her first attendance at a competition at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, O'Neill never failed to win a medal at any international meet she attended, right up until her final Olympics in front of a home crowd in Australia. At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Trials, she broke the 19-year-old world record of another "Madame Butterfly", Mary T. Meagher, in the 200m butterfly, but was beaten at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games by American Misty Hyman, in an upset. 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. She commentated at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She was the Oceania athletes' representative on the International Olympic Committee from 2000 to 2005, when she resigned her membership. On 10 March 2007, O'Neill was honoured by having the temporary swimming pool in the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne named after her for the duration of the 12th FINA World Championships, the site of the swimming events. O'Neill is a co-host on Nova 106.9's breakfast radio show Ash, Kip, Luttsy & Susie. On 14 February 2018, O'Neill released a single titled "My Heart Goes Boom". In May 2019, O'Neill was announced as Australia's joint Deputy Chef de Mission, alongside fellow Olympians, Evelyn Halls and Kim Brennan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
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 "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 their distinguished ambassadors. The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international non-profit organization that educates surgeons on how to cure avoidable blindness within undeserved communities and countries.
