Susan O'Neill, (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.
Early life
O'Neill was born on 2 August 1973 in Mackay, Queensland, to Trish and John O'Neill. She has two siblings, a brother and a sister. Her family moved to Brisbane and she was educated at Lourdes Hill College (LHC) in Hawthorne. Whilst at LHC, O'Neill excelled in sport, setting school records in 50 m and 100 m butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke. She was also LHC cross country champion and set records for the 13 years 800 m in 1986 and for the 15 years 400 m in 1988 for athletics. All these records still stood as of 2011.
She provided commentary at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She was the Oceania athletes' representative on the International Olympic Committee from 2000 to 2005. When she resigned her membership she was replaced by Barbara Kendall.
On 10 March 2007 during the 12th FINA World Championship, O'Neill was honoured by the dedication of the temporary swimming pool in the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne named after her for the duration of the competition.
In 2015, O'Neill made regular appearances on Ash, Kip & Luttsy for several years before officially joining the team in 2019, at which point the show was renamed Ash, Luttsy & Susie. She continued as a co-host until November 2024. In 2026 she returned to the show.
In May 2019, O'Neill was announced as Australia's joint Deputy Chef de Mission for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, with fellow Olympians, Evelyn Halls and Kim Brennan.
Honours and awards
- 1996 – awarded the World Trophy for Australasia.
- 1996 – joint winner with Jackie Gallagher of the Australian Sport Awards Female Athlete of the Year
- 1997 – Australian Day Honours, O'Neill was awarded the Order of Australia Medal () "for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996."
- 1998 – awarded the Australian Sport Awards Female Athlete of the Year and the 1999 Australian People's Choice Awards.
- 14 July 2000 – awarded the Australian Sports Medal for "her significant contribution as a competitor in swimming".
- 2000 – the State Transit Authority named a SuperCat ferry after O'Neill.
- 2000 – At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she was elected to the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission by competitors at the 2000 Games, but family obligations caused her to resign in 2005.
- 1 January 2001 – awarded the Centenary Medal "For service to the community through health".
- 5 December 2002 – inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
- 2009 – inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.
- 10 June 2009 – as part of the Q150 celebrations, O'Neill was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for her role as a "sports legend".
- 2012 – elevated to become Sport Australia Hall of Fame's 34th Legend of Australian Sport.
Personal life
O'Neill married Cliff Fairley, who works as an ophthalmologist, in 1998. They have two children.
Philanthropy
O'Neill and her husband, Cliff Fairley, are ambassadors for the Fred Hollows Foundation. The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international nonprofit organisation that educates surgeons on how to cure avoidable blindness within underserved communities and countries.