Susie O'Neill

In her book, "Choose to win: Achieving your goals, fulfilling your dreams", Susie talks about her self-doubt in social situations. During her career, Susie was sometimes called the "quiet assassin" because of her ability to set aside a shy and reserved nature to become a fierce competitor in the water.

Susie O'Neill was born August 2, 1973 in Queensland, Australia. The swimmer narrowly missed being selected to compete in the 1988 Seoul Olympics at age 14. In 1996, Susie won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Atlanta Olympics. She holds 35 Australian titles, 8 Olympic medals, and never failed to win a medal in any international event that she entered.

Susie, known by the nickname "Madame Butterfly" for her prowess at the stroke, retired after competing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She served on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until 2005, resigning shortly after the birth of her second child with husband Cliff Fairley. In addition to having her own swimsuit line, Susie is an ambassador for a number of companies and organizations, including the Fred Hollows Foundation.

"Susie was always very shy and very quiet. But the one thing that you could see in her was this incredible competitive spirit. She wasn’t the champion who would, sort of struts along the pool so to speak. She just seemed like a normal person and I think people loved that."

- Gerry Collins, ABC Commentator

"I'm hoping they're not swimmers! I don't want to go through it again. It takes up a lot of time. I want them to have broader skills in a lot of things. But I just want them to be happy."

- Susie O'Neill talking about her children and swimming.

_Sources:

_{Yahoo! Lifestyle: New Idea. Susie O'Neill: Life after the pool. Accessed January 26, 2010.}

_{ABC Local Radio. Australian Story: Finding Her Focus (Program transcript). Accessed January 26, 2010.}

_{The Herald Sun. Fitting reward for classy Madame. Accessed January 26, 2010.}