Five-time Olympic medalist Shane Gould is set to appear on the upcoming season of Australia’s Survivor, the reality TV show based on the international series of the same name.
Gould appeared in a recent promo for the season, which is themed “Champions v Contenders” and features “champions” of various arenas and industries against everyday Australians. Gould is touted as one of the champions, having won five medals at the 1972 Olympics, three of them gold. Gould does get pretty good billing in the early promo, which only introduces about 7 of the likely 24 cast members by name.
Australians can view the promo on Twitter below. Those in blocked geographic regions can view it here, on News.com.au. Gould appears about 50 seconds into the two-minute promo.
https://twitter.com/Survivor_AU/status/1010658957629648896
Gould was the first Australian – male or female – to win three gold medals in a single Olympics, and she did it at the age of 15. Gould is also the only person in history to hold every world record from the 100 free to the 1500, and she also held the 200 IM world record at the same time. The young star of the Munich Olympics, Gould retired at age 17.
Per a Sydney Morning Herald profile (which you can read here), Gould was finishing a PhD thesis on the significance of swimming in the Australian cultural landscape when the offer came through to compete on Survivor. Now 61, Gould is both a mother and grandmother, and says if she wins the $500,000 prize, she’ll use the money to build a “dream sustainable cottage” and to help pay for her grandchildren’s educations.
Premiering in July on Australia’s Network Ten, ‘Champions v Contenders’ is the fifth season of Australian Survivor, and the third season since it was resurrected in 2016 after a ten-year hiatus. The best-known version of the show is the American series, which is beginning its 37th season next fall.
Swimmers have a growing history with the Survivor franchise. American Olympian Katrina Radke appeared on last fall’s 35th season of the American franchise, ‘Heroes v Healers v Hustlers’. Other high-level aquatics athletes to compete include season 27 winner Tyson Apostol (who was a collegiate swimmer at BYU) and season 19’s Jaison Robinson (who was a U.S. National Teamer in water polo).
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