Nadine Neumann Swimmer
Nadine Neumann is a former breaststroke swimmer, who, by the age of 20had 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. But she fought back to compete at the 1996 Atlanta Games for Australia. There she finished in sixth position, clocking 2:28.34 in the final of the 200 m breaststroke. She went on to Captain the Australian Swimming Team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 1999 Pan Pacific Championships. On retiring from competitive swimming, Nadine completely re-defined her life. She worked in PR & Marketing before beginning her teaching career at Cheltenham Girls High School as an English teacher. After her move to Newcastle, NSW, she taught English to students studying for their trade certificate and HSC concurrently at the Australian Technical College – Hunter. Her memoir, Wobbles – An Olympic Story, won the 2009 IP Picks Award for Best Creative Non-Fiction and is due to be released at the end of 2009. She is currently working on a number of other writing projects.