Susie O'Neill

Susan O'Neill, AM (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.

Susie O'Neill
AM

Personal information
Full name	Susan O'Neill
National team	Australia
Born	(1973-08-02) 2 August 1973 (age 51) Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, freestyle
Club	Commercial Swimming Club
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  Australia Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 4 2 World Championships (LC) 1 2 4 World Championships (SC) 3 7 1 Pan Pacific Championships 7 15 3 Commonwealth Games 11 5 0 Total 24 33 10 Olympic Games Atlanta 1996 200 m butterfly Sydney 2000 200 m freestyle Atlanta 1996 4×100 m medley Sydney 2000 200 m butterfly Sydney 2000 4×100 m medley Sydney 2000 4×200 m freestyle Barcelona 1992 200 m butterfly Atlanta 1996 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 1998 Perth 200 m butterfly 1991 Perth 4×100 m medley 1998 Perth 4×100 m medley 1994 Rome 100 m butterfly 1994 Rome 200 m butterfly 1998 Perth 4×100 m freestyle 1998 Perth 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (SC) 1993 Palma 100 m butterfly 1995 Rio 200 m butterfly 1995 Rio 4×100 m medley 1993 Palma 200 m freestyle 1993 Palma 200 m butterfly 1993 Palma 4×200 m freestyle 1993 Palma 4×100 m medley 1995 Rio 200 m freestyle 1995 Rio 100 m butterfly 1995 Rio 4×100 m freestyle 1995 Rio 4×100 m medley Pan Pacific Championships 1991 Edmonton 100 m butterfly 1995 Atlanta 100 m butterfly 1995 Atlanta 200 m butterfly 1995 Atlanta 4×100 m medley 1997 Fukuoka 200 m butterfly 1999 Sydney 200 m freestyle 1999 Sydney 200 m butterfly 1991 Edmonton 4×100 m medley 1993 Kobe 100 m freestyle 1993 Kobe 100 m butterfly 1993 Kobe 4×100 m freestyle 1993 Kobe 4×200 m freestyle 1993 Kobe 4×100 m medley 1995 Atlanta 4×100 m freestyle 1995 Atlanta 4×200 m freestyle 1997 Fukuoka 4×100 m freestyle 1997 Fukuoka 4×200 m freestyle 1997 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley 1999 Sydney 100 m butterfly 1999 Sydney 4×100 m freestyle 1999 Sydney 4×200 m freestyle 1999 Sydney 4×100 m medley 1991 Edmonton 100 m freestyle 1991 Edmonton 4×100 m freestyle 1991 Edmonton 4×200 m freestyle Commonwealth Games 1990 Auckland 4×100 m freestyle 1994 Victoria 200 m freestyle 1994 Victoria 200 m butterfly 1994 Victoria 4×100 m freestyle 1994 Victoria 4×200 m freestyle 1998 Kuala Lumpur 200 m freestyle 1998 Kuala Lumpur 400 m freestyle 1998 Kuala Lumpur 200 m butterfly 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4×100 m freestyle 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4×200 m freestyle 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4×100 m medley 1990 Auckland 100 m butterfly 1994 Victoria 100 m butterfly 1994 Victoria 4×100 m freestyle 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100 m butterfly 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100 m freestyle

Early life

O'Neill was born on 2 August 1973 in Mackay, Queensland, to Trish and John O'Neill. She has two siblings, a brother and a sister. Her family moved to Brisbane and she was educated at Lourdes Hill College (LHC) in Hawthorne.^[1] 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.^[1]

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, Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones 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.

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.^[2]

She provided commentary 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 she was replaced by Barbara Kendall.^[3]

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 in Melbourne named after her for the duration of the competition.

In 2015, O'Neill made regular appearances on Ash, Kip & Luttsy for several years before officially joining the team in 2019, at which point the show was renamed Ash, Luttsy & Susie.^[4] She continued as a co-host until November 2024.

In 2025, O'Neill will remain with NOVA Entertainment, working on shows across the Nova Network as a guest presenter for both Breakfast and National shows next year.^[5]

On 14 February 2018, O'Neill released a single entitled "My Heart Goes Boom".^[6]

In May 2019, O'Neill was announced as Australia's joint Deputy Chef de Mission for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo,^[7] with fellow Olympians, Evelyn Halls and Kim Brennan.

Honours and awards

• 1996 – awarded the World Trophy for Australasia.
• 1996 – joint winner with Jackie Gallagher of the Australian Sport Awards Female Athlete of the Year^[8]
• 1997 – Australian Day Honours, O'Neill was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) "for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996."^[9]
• 1998 – awarded the Australian Sport Awards Female Athlete of the Year^[8]
• 1998 – was named Favourite Female Sports Star at the 1998^[10] and the 1999 Australian People's Choice Awards.^[11]
• 14 July 2000 – awarded the Australian Sports Medal for "her significant contribution as a competitor in swimming".^[12]
• 2000 – the State Transit Authority named a SuperCat ferry after O'Neill.
• 2000 – At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she was elected to the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission by competitors at the 2000 Games, but family obligations caused her to resign in 2005.^[13]
• 1 January 2001 – awarded the Centenary Medal "For service to the community through health".^[14]
• 5 December 2002 – inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame.^[15]
• 2009 – inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.^[16]
• 10 June 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".^[17]
• 2012 – elevated to become Sport Australia Hall of Fame's 34th Legend of Australian Sport.^[15]
• 2018 – appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 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."
• 2023 - Inducted into Swimming Australia Hall of Fame.^[18]

Personal life

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

Philanthropy

O'Neill and her husband, Cliff Fairley, help generously to raise awareness for the Fred Hollows Foundation, and are one of its most distinguished ambassadors.^[19] The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international nonprofit organisation that educates surgeons on how to cure avoidable blindness within underserved communities and countries.^[19]

See also

• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (women)
• World record progression 200 metres butterfly