Nadine Neumann

Nadine Bernadette Neumann (born 3 December 1975) is an Australian former breaststroke swimmer who by the age of 20 had already lived a lifetime of success and setbacks. She overcame chronic fatigue syndrome at the age of 15, only to have her dream of an Olympic berth in Barcelona shattered by a broken neck. She fought back to compete for Australia at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where she finished in sixth position, clocking 2:28.34 in the final of the 200-metre breaststroke. She went on to Captain the Australian Swimming Team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 1999 Pan Pacific Championships, competing in the 400-metre Individual Medley, 200-metre Butterfly and 800-metre Freestyle events as well as the breaststroke.

Upon retiring from competitive swimming, Nadine had to completely re-define her life. She worked in public relations and marketing before beginning her teaching career at Cheltenham Girls High School as an English teacher. After her move to Newcastle, New South Wales, she taught English to students studying for their trade certificate and HSC concurrently at the Australian Technical College – Hunter, and ran a wellbeing program in high schools which she designed to engage, empower and equip young people for a healthy future.

Her memoir, Wobbles – An Olympic Story, won the 2009 IP Picks Award for Best Creative Non-Fiction and was published the same year. She has published a number of other short pieces, and is currently working on a picuture book for teenagers and an historical fiction novel based on the lives of her two grandmothers. Nadine is also studying to complete a Graduate Diploma in Psychology as a follow-on from her teaching and youth work qualifications.

She lives with her husband and four young children in the Hunter Valley, NSW, and occasionally enjoys sharing her technique tips with young swimmers.