Cate Natalie Campbell,OAM (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian former competitiveswimmer. She is the current world record holder in theshort course 100 m freestyle.[3] She is also a former world record holder in the long course 100 m freestyle, breaking Britta Steffen's supersuit WR by 0.01.
Campbell has eight Olympic medals, four of which are gold, across four Olympics. Campbell was Australia's joint flagbearer at theTokyo 2020 Olympics.
She was coached by Simon Cusack at theCommercial Swimming Club for over two decades, before moving to train with Damien Jones at the Rackley Swimming Club then Vince Raleigh at Chandler in her fifth and final Olympic campaign bid.
Campbell is regarded as one of the greatest Australian swimmers and one of the best relay swimmers of all time, holding four of the fastest 100 m freestyle splits in history at the time of her retirement.[4][5] In particular, she has been credited as the doyen of the Australian women's sprinting dynasty alongside her sisterBronte.[6]
Cate is the first of five children born to South African parents, Eric, an accountant, and Jenny, a nurse.[7] She has four younger siblings (three sisters and one brother):Bronte, Jessica, Hamish, and Abigail. Her brother Hamish has severecerebral palsy and requires around-the-clock care.[8][9]
Jenny used to be a swimmer and taught her three daughters to swim,[10] in the pool at the family's home. Cate also recalls swimming near Hippopotami inLake Malawi as a small child.[11] Lake Malawi is thesecond deepest lake inAfrica. It was in this lake that her father, Eric, would go sailing on weekends.[12] Campbell and her siblings were homeschooled as children.[11] Her mother also frequently read the Bible to her, while she was growing up.[13] The Campbells lived in a big house, with no TV. They had many pets, including turkeys, guinea pigs, dogs, cats, and chickens. Campbell describes every morning like "an Easter egg hunt; the chickens would lay eggs all around the house."[14]
During her schooling, Campbell states she could not sing or dance, but swimming was something in which she excelled. She also stated she received top marks for public speaking at school. Aside from those, she claims she was an "average student".[15]
The Campbells moved fromMalawi to Australia in 2001 and it was soon after this that Campbell took up competitive swimming. She completed her secondary school studies atKenmore State High School inBrisbane, Queensland. Her sisterBronte is also an Olympic swimmer and the pair competed in the same event at the2012 Summer Olympics, and won the gold medal together at the2016 Summer Olympics as members of the Australian women's 4 × 100 m freestyle team.[16]
Cate was the fastest qualifier into the 50 metre freestyle semi-finals, after recording a time of 24.20 seconds. This placed her in Lane 4 in the semi-finals against the world record holderLibby Trickett. In the second semi-final Cate placed second in a time of 24.42 seconds, placing her in Lane 5 for the final. In the final, she placed third in a time of 24.17. She also won bronze as part of Australia'swomen's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay team.
Despite doing a time trial of 53.40 seconds, with her 100-metre performance of 56.39 from 5 months earlier in March and having hip problems, she was scratched from the women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle. However, she still earned the right to swim the 50 metre freestyle from her runner-up swim at the world championships trials. In Rome she finished with a bronze, beating compatriotLibby Trickett and ending 0.02 of a second off the Commonwealth Record.
In 2010, Cate and her sisterBronte caughtglandular fever; they worked against post-viral fatigue as they trained to qualify for the2012 Summer Olympics in London.[17] Cate Campbell was a member of the Australian team that won the gold medal in the4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the Games.[18] Before the individual 50 metre event, she contracted acute pancreatitis.[19] In thewomen's 50 metre freestyle she and Bronte swam in the same heat, finishing third and second respectively, and qualifying for the semi-final in tenth and ninth place respectively.[20]
At the2013 Australian Swimming Championships she won gold in both the 50 and 100 metre freestyle events, qualifying for the2013 World Aquatics Championships. At the World Championships, she teamed up with her sister Bronte,Emma McKeon andAlicia Coutts in the4 × 100 metre freestyle relay where they won the silver medal, finishing 0.12 of a second behind the American team.[21] On the sixth day of competition, Campbell won the 100 metre freestyle world title with a time of 52.34 seconds.[22] Campbell finished ahead ofSarah Sjöström of Sweden and defending Olympic champion,Ranomi Kromowidjojo.
At the2015 World Championships inKazan, she won gold in the4 × 100 metre freestyle relay, beating the Dutch and US teams by a comfortable lead.[23] On the100 metre freestyle event she finished third, behind Bronte Campbell and Sarah Sjöström.[24] At the 2015 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in Sydney, she broke the short course 100 metre freestyle world record in a time of 50.91, becoming the first woman to go under 51 seconds.[25]
At the2016 Australian Swimming Championships she won the 100 metre freestyle to qualify for the2016 Summer Olympics. She broke theAustralian record in the 50 metre freestyle in the semifinals with a time of 23.93, which was thefastest time ever in a textile swimsuit.[26] She went on to win the final and qualify for the Olympics in the 50 metre freestyle, improving her time to 23.84.[27] In addition, Campbell also qualified for the Olympic team in both the 4 × 100 m freestyle (winning gold in a new world-record time) & 4 × 100 m medley relays.[28] At the 2016 Australian Grand Prix meet, she broke the long course 100 metre freestyle world record in a time of 52.06. This was 0.01 seconds faster than the previous world record set byBritta Steffen during the super suit era.
At the2016 Summer Olympics Campbell won a gold medal as a member of the Australian women's 4 × 100 m freestyle team. The team, which included Campbell's sisterBronte, set a world record time of 3:30.65. This was followed by a silver medal as a member of the women's 4 × 100 m medley team. In the Olympic final of the100 m freestyle, Campbell was the favourite, however after leading at the first turn, she faded and finished 6th in 53.24, despite breaking the Olympic record in the heats and semifinals with times of 52.78 and 52.71, respectively. She narrowly missed a medal in the 50 m freestyle final, finishing 5th.[29]
After the Rio Olympics, Campbell took 2017 off from swimming competitively in order to recover from disappointment.[30] She used most of the year to do "normal things" other people her age might do, taking her first real break from training since the age of 9.[31] At the 2017 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships she broke the 100 metre freestyle world record in a time of 50.25, improving the previous mark by 0.33 seconds.[32]
Campbell returned to competition for theGold Coast Commonwealth Games, winning gold and breaking the world record in the women's 4 × 100m freestyle relay, alongside sister Bronte,Emma McKeon and Shayna Jack.[33] She then won gold for the women's 50m freestyle, with a time of 23.78, breaking a Commonwealth record.[34] She also won gold for the women's 50m butterfly, despite having no prior experience in the stroke. She stated she opted for the event to "shake things up" and "to try something new and different".[35] Campbell claimed the silver medal for the 100m freestyle with a time of 52.69, touching behind her sister Bronte, who had a time of 52.27.[36]
Campbell qualified for her 4th Olympics, Tokyo 2020, becoming the third Australian swimmer to do so, afterLeisel Jones andEmily Seebohm. On 7 July 2021, she was announced as one of Australia's flagbearers for the Opening Ceremony, alongside basketball player,Patty Mills, and becoming the first Australian female swimmer to do so.[37] Alongside Emma McKeon, Meg Harris, and sister Bronte, Campbell won gold in the women's4 × 100 m freestyle relay, again breaking Australia's previous record. This also marked the 3rd time Campbell has won gold in the same event.[38] She then went on to win the bronze medal in the 100m freestyle, behind Emma McKeon (gold) and Hong Kong'sSiobhan Haughey (silver).
On day 9 of the Olympics, Campbell finished 7th in the 50m freestyle final. Half an hour later, she and the Australian team won gold in the women's medley relay, alongsideKaylee McKeown,Chelsea Hodges and Emma McKeon.
Campbell took an 18 month break following the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before announcing her tilt at a fifth and final Olympics, hoping to become the first Australian swimmer to do so. At the2024 Australian Swimming Trials, Campbell placed 9th in the 100m freestyle heats, failing to progress to the final by 0.01. With her hopes to make a fifth Olympic team hinging on a top two finish in the 50 freestyle, Campbell placed seventh. After the race, Campbell was embraced by her sister Bronte and the other finalists. After receiving a standing ovation, she confirmed her retirement in a special post-race interview and bid an emotional farewell to the Chandler crowd - the same pool where Campbell begun her competitive career. Campbell's competitors paid homage to her for setting the standards in sprint freestyle nationally and internationally, as well as for being an inspiration in and out of the pool.[4]
In 2015, Campbell opened up about her struggles with body image. She confessed that pressure from TV and magazine models made her want to be skinny, however it reached the point where she was getting sick. She read a chapter inMichael Phelps' bookBeneath the Surface, where the line "skinny swimmers aren't good swimmers" stuck out in her head. Her mother encouraged her to see a dietitian, and now believes "the sum of your worth is so much more than what you look like".[39]
On Campbell's Twitter profile, she identifies as an atheist,[40] but she previously identified as Christian in 2010 and 2011, stating that she needed to rely onGod for her "strength and love".[19] At the time her family was attending a localBaptist church in Brisbane.[17][19]
Since 2011, Campbell has been studying a degree in Mass Communication atQueensland University of Technology.[41] She has stated that she wants to pursue a career that combines her interest in the media industry with her love of sport, when she retires.[42] She is a member of the QUT Elite Athlete program.[43]
Until December 2016, Campbell lived with her sister Bronte. As of 2017, they are no longer housemates.[44] She subsequently bought a house inMorningside, Queensland.[45]
Campbell enjoys hiking, listening to music, newspaper crosswords, and brewing Kombucha. She also owns a kayak.[46][47]
She is a supporter of Nexus Care, a not-for-profit organisation, that aims to improve the lives of those living in poverty in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.[48][49]
In November 2018, Campbell revealed she had been diagnosed with a stage onemelanoma that developed in a mole she had had her whole life and had to get it removed. She urged her fans to get regular skin checks, stating "an hour out of your day once or twice a year is all it takes". She has since been praised for raising awareness ofskin cancer.[50]
| Meet | 50 free | 100 free | 50 fly | 4×100 free | 4×200 free | 4×100 medley | 4×100 Mixed free | 4×100 Mixed medley |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OG 2008 |  | 10th | | |||||
| WC 2009 | | |||||||
| OG 2012 | 13th | DNS |  | |||||
| WC 2013 |  | | | | ||||
| CG 2014 | | | | | ||||
| PP 2014 | | | | | ||||
| WC 2015 | 4th | | | |||||
| OG 2016 | 5th | 6th | | | ||||
| CG 2018 | | | | | ||||
| PP 2018 | | | | | | |||
| WC 2019 | | | | | | |||
| OG 2021 | 7th | | | |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes: WR =world record, CR =Commonwealth record, OC =Oceanian record, NR =national record
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Status | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4x100 m mixed freestyle relay[a] | 3:23.29 | BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series | Perth,Australia | 1 February 2014 | Former | [53] |
| 2 | 4x100 m freestyle relay[b] | 3:30.98 | 2014 Commonwealth Games | Glasgow,Scotland | 24 July 2014 | Former | [54] |
| 3 | 100 m freestyle | 52.06 | Australia Grand Prix | Brisbane,Australia | 2 July 2016 | Former | [55] |
| 4 | 4x100 m freestyle relay (2)[c] | 3:30.65 | 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro,Brazil | 6 August 2016 | Former | [56] |
| 5 | 4x100 m freestyle relay (3)[d] | 3:30.05 | 2018 Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Queensland | 5 April 2018 | Former | [57] |
| 6 | 4x100 m freestyle relay (4)[e] | 3:29.69 | 2020 Summer Olympics | Tokyo,Japan | 25 July 2021 | Former | [58] |
a split 52.83 (2nd leg); with Tomaso D'Orsogna (1st leg),James Magnussen (3rd leg), Bronte Campbell (4th leg)
b split 52.16 (4th leg); withBronte Campbell (1st leg),Melanie Schlanger (2nd leg),Emma McKeon (3rd leg)
c split 51.97 (4th leg); with Emma McKeon (1st leg),Brittany Elmslie (2nd leg), Bronte Campbell (3rd leg)
d split 51.00 (4th leg); withShayna Jack (1st leg), Bronte Campbell (2nd leg), Emma McKeon (3rd leg)
e split 52.24 (4th leg); with Bronte Campbell (1st leg),Meg Harris (2nd leg), Emma McKeon (3rd leg)
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Status | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4x50 m mixed medley relay[a] | 1:39.08 | h | 2013 FINA World Cup | Singapore | 5 November 2013 | Former | [59] |
| 2 | 4x50 m mixed medley relay (2)[b] | 1:38.02 | 2013 FINA World Cup | Singapore | 5 November 2013 | Former | [59] | |
| 3 | 4x50 m mixed medley relay (3)[c] | 1:37.84 | 2013 FINA World Cup | Tokyo,Japan | 9 November 2013 | Former | [60] | |
| 4 | 4x50 m mixed freestyle relay[d] | 1:31.13 | h | 2013 FINA World Cup | Tokyo,Japan | 10 November 2013 | Former | [61] |
| 5 | 4x50 m mixed freestyle relay (2)[e] | 1:29.61 | 2013 FINA World Cup | Tokyo,Japan | 10 November 2013 | Former | [61] | |
| 6 | 100 m freestyle | 50.91 | † | Australian Short Course Championships | Sydney,Australia | 28 November 2015 | Former | [62] |
| 7 | 100 m freestyle (2) | 50.25 | Australian Short Course Championships | Adelaide,Australia | 26 October 2017 | Current | [63] |
a split 23.63 (4th leg); withRobert Hurley (1st leg),Christian Sprenger (2nd leg),Alicia Coutts (3rd leg)
b split 23.23 (4th leg); with Robert Hurley (1st leg), Christian Sprenger (2nd leg), Alicia Coutts (3rd leg)
c split 23.28 (4th leg); with Robert Hurley (1st leg), Christian Sprenger (2nd leg), Alicia Coutts (3rd leg)
d split 23.50 (4th leg); withTomaso D'Orsogna (1st leg), Regan Leong (2nd leg),Bronte Campbell (3rd leg)
e split 23.10 (3rd leg); with Tomaso D'Orsogna (1st leg),Travis Mahoney (2nd leg), Bronte Campbell (4th leg)
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Status | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4x100 m freestyle relay[a] | 3:33.15 | 2012 Summer Olympics | London,United Kingdom | 28 July 2012 | Former | [64] | ||
| 2 | 4x100 m freestyle relay[b] | 3:32.39 | h | 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro,Brazil | 6 August 2016 | Former | [65] | |
| 3 | 4x100 m freestyle relay[c] | 3:30.65 | 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro,Brazil | 6 August 2016 | Former | FormerWR,OC,NR | [65] | |
| 4 | 100 m freestyle | 52.78 | h | 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro,Brazil | 10 August 2016 | Former | [65] | |
| 5 | 100 m freestyle | 52.71 | sf | 2016 Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro,Brazil | 10 August 2016 | Former | [65] | |
| 6 | 4x100 m freestyle relay[d] | 3:29.69 | 2020 Summer Olympics | Tokyo,Japan | 25 July 2021 | Former | FormerWR,OC,NR | [66] | |
| 7 | 4x100 m medley relay[e] | 3:51.60 | 2020 Summer Olympics | Tokyo,Japan | 1 August 2021 | Former | OC,NR | [66] |
a split 53.19 (2nd leg); withAlicia Coutts (1st leg),Brittany Elmslie (3rd leg),Melanie Schlanger (4th leg)
b split 51.80 (4th leg); withMadison Wilson (1st leg ), Brittany Elmslie (2nd leg),Bronte Campbell (3rd leg)
c split 51.97 (4th leg); withEmma McKeon (1st leg), Brittany Elmslie (2nd leg), Bronte Campbell (3rd leg)
d split 52.24 (4th leg); with Bronte Campbell (1st leg),Meg Harris (2nd leg), Emma McKeon (3rd leg)
e split 52.11 (4th leg); withKaylee McKeown (1st leg),Chelsea Hodges (2nd leg), Emma McKeon (3rd leg)
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| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 100-metre freestyle world record-holder (long course) 2 July 2016 – 23 July 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Libby Trickett Sarah Sjöström | Women's 100-metre freestyle world record-holder (short course) 28 November 2015 – 3 August 2017 26 October 2017 – present | Succeeded by Sarah Sjöström Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Mixed 4 × 50 metres freestyle relay world record-holder 10 November 2013 – 14 December 2013 With:Regan Leong (10 to 10 November),Tommaso D'Orsogna,Travis Mahoney,Bronte Campbell | Succeeded by |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year 2013, 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by | Flagbearer forAustralia (withPatty Mills) Tokyo 2020 | Succeeded by |
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