Shane Gould

Shane: (on favourite memory of the Olympic games) I played a game of pool in the recreation hall in the athletes' village at Munich, with a man from an African country. To me it was a snapshot of what the Olympics were about, people from all over the world male and female black and white, different languages, cultures, all playing games together. That sticks out more than anything else. It is quite a remarkable thing.

Shane Gould: (On what training she did) In peak training I swam 10 to 11 sessions per week doing about 4 to 5 miles each time (write to me and tell me how many kilometres that is. Rachel Harris Australia's current champion 800m freestyler swims 7km per session). I did all four strokes in training and at least one lot of races each week. I also did cross country running and sports at school. In the summer I went to the beach and body surfed on weekends. All the exercise I did added to training my muscles and general fitness.

Shane Gould: (On when she started swimming) I learned to swim when I was 3. I was the junior school swimming champion when I was 7. When I was 9 I swam 3 times a week with a coach at a club. When I was 131/2 I gave up all other sports and concentrated on swimming doing 10 sessions per week. I surfed regularly for 25 years from 17 to 42 using my swimming skills. Now I swim 3 to 5 times a week with a masters club doing 4 km each session. I love feeling fit from swimming regularly. My surfing has improved since I have been swimming again!

Shane Gould (On if she got nervous before a race): I get 'butterflies' which makes me excited. If they get out of control it makes me nervous. If I can control them, by making them 'fly in formation' then I get extra adrenalin energy to go fast . I learned to control nervous energy with the practise of lots of races and being confident in my training, my skills and my ability.

Shane Gould: (On what is the most memorable moment of her entire swimming career)It would probably surprise most people that it is NOT one of my three Olympic Gold Medals. Instead, my most memorable moment was when I broke the 100m Freestyle World Record in January 1972 in Sydney, after which I then held all Womens' Freestyle World Records (100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500) and because of the emotion of the circumstances, and being in front of a home crowd.