courtesy of arena, a SwimSwam partner.
arena is pleased to announce it has renewed its sponsorship with four-time Olympian and gold medallist, Cate Campbell. The 29-year-old freestyle sprinter has been part of arena’s elite team since 2013, and is now contracted through the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“I am so excited to continue my partnership with Arena,” said Cate, “they have been an integral part of my team since 2013. I chose Arena nearly 10 years ago because of their passion about swimming, commitment to high-performance and constant improvement. Looking forward to my journey to Paris 2024, I can’t imagine doing it in any other swimwear.”
The eldest of five children, Cate was born in Blantyre, Malawi, where her mother taught her to swim in Africa’s third largest body of freshwater, Lake Malawi, before moving with her family to Australia as a nine-year-old. Having joined a local swimming club in Brisbane in order to meet people, she took to the sport from the outset, and was soon competing with great success. Her rapid upward trajectory saw her break the Australian and Commonwealth 50m freestyle records in 2008 as a 15-year-old, and not long after she turned 16 she competed in her first Olympics in Beijing, where she won bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay.
Having sampled the taste of the podium at the highest level, Cate’s been going back ever since. She won her first major individual title at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, dominating the 100m freestyle field in a blistering 52.34s, at the time the fastest ever in a textile suit and historically the fourth fastest overall. At the 2014 and 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, she swept the freestyle sprints, and in the same years at the Commonwealth Games, won the 100m free (2014), 50m free and 50m fly (2018). She has also won a total of 4 silver and 5 bronze medals in her signature events at the Olympics (2008, 2020), World Champs (2009, 2013, 2015, 2019) and Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018). She broke the 100m free world record in 2016 with a time of 52.06s, holding it for a year, and in the same event has done it twice in the short course pool, first in 2015 (50.91s) and again in 2017 (50.25s), a mark that still stands today.
If her individual record is impressive, her relay record is stellar. As a fixture in the Australian 4x100m free team, she’s won: 3 consecutive Olympic titles (2012, 2016, 2020), the first in an Olympic record and the other two in world record times (3:30.65, 3:29.69); 2 World titles (2015, 2019), both in Championship record times; 2 Commonwealth Games titles (2014, 2018), both in world record times (3:30, 98, 3:30.05); and 1 Pan Pacific title (2014) in Championship record time. Add to that the 4x100m medley titles at the Olympics (2020, Olympic record), Pan Pacs (2014) and Commonwealth Games (2014, Games record); 4 silver medals and a bronze across these two events; and 4 world records since 2014 – swimming anchor in all 4, including a stunning 51:00 in 2018 – and you have the consummate relay CV.
But for injury and breaks from the sport, which kept her out of the 2011 and 2017 World Championships, it is highly likely that Cate’s accomplishments would be all the more impressive.
Remarkably, Cate has only ever had one coach – Simon Cusack – since she was nine, and she credits him with much of her growth and achievements. However, having committed to striving for a fifth appearance at the Olympic Games in 2024, she has also decided on making a change in club and coach, joining Damien Jones at Rackley Centenary in Brisbane. But before she kicks into her training regime once again, first up is “a 6 month European adventure”, which means she won’t be at Budapest’s World Championships in June/July or August’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. After that, though, it will be down to business once again, with Paris firmly in her sights.
Cate Campbell bio and best results
Born: 20 May, 1992, in Blantyre, Malawi
Disciplines: Freestyle
Coach: Damien Jones
Club: Rackley Centenary, Brisbane
2021 – XXXII Olympiad, Tokyo
Gold: 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Bronze: 100m freestyle
2019 – 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, Gwangju
Gold: 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m mixed medley
Silver: 100m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Bronze: 50m freestyle
2018 – Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Tokyo
Gold: 50m & 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley, 4x100m mixed medley
Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast
Gold: 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle
Silver: 100m freestyle
2016 – XXXI Olympiad, Rio de Janeiro
Gold: 4x100m freestyle
Silver: 4x100m medley
2015 – 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, Kazan
Gold: 4x100m freestyle
Bronze: 100m freestyle
2014 – Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Gold Coast
Gold: 50m & 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Commonwealth Games, Glasgow
Gold: 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Silver: 50m freestyle
2013 – 15th FINA World Aquatics Championships, Barcelona
Gold: 100m freestyle
Silver: 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley
2012 – XXX Olympiad, London
Gold: 4x100m freestyle
2009 – 13th FINA World Aquatics Championships, Rome
Bronze: 50m freestyle
2008 – XXIX Olympiad, Beijing
Bronze: 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle
