Nadine Neumann
Nadine Bernadette Neumann is an Australian former breaststroke swimmer.
She overcame chronic fatigue syndrome at the age of 15, and was denied an Olympic berth in Barcelona because of a broken neck. She competed for Australia at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where she finished in sixth position, clocking 2:28.34 in the final of the 200-metre breaststroke. She captainedthe Australian Swimming Team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 1999 Pan Pacific Championships, competing in the 400-metre Individual Medley, 200-metre Butterfly and 800-metre Freestyle events as well as the breaststroke.
Upon retiring from competitive swimming, Neumann worked in public relations and marketing before beginning at Cheltenham Girls High School as an English teacher. After her move to Newcastle, New South Wales, she taught English to students studying for their trade certificate and HSC concurrently at the Australian Technical College – Hunter and ran a well-being program in high schools.
Her memoir, Wobbles – An Olympic Story, won the 2009 IP Picks Award for Best Creative Non-Fiction and was published the same year. She has published a number of other short pieces and is currently working on a picture book for teenagers and a historical fiction novel based on the lives of her two grandmothers.
She lives with her husband and four young children in the Hunter Valley, NSW. She also teaches English and is a well-being counselour at Linuwel School in East Maitland.
