Julie McDonald

Julie Maree McDonald (born March 14, 1970) was an Australian long-distance freestyle swimmer of the 1980s and 1990s, who won a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle, swimming at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She was often considered to be an outspoken and controversial swimmer, who switched to distance freestyle after starting as backstroker.

Her first international achievement was her debut at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where she claimed a silver in the 800m freestyle, and the following year, she claimed gold and silver in the 800m and 400m freestyle events at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, setting a Commonwealth 800M record of 8min 23.18, and defeating World Record holder Janet Evans (USA) . She came to the 1988 Seoul Olympics as one of the fancied competitors in the 800m freestyle, and claimed the bronze medal, behind the United States' Janet Evans, and East Germany's Astrid Strauss.

McDonald was the subject of controversy at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland when she apparently showed disdain at the selection of fellow distance swimmer, the flame-haired Janelle Elford. McDonald was quoted as saying "I thought a typical Aussie had blonde hair, blue eyes and a tan ... I feel snubbed and unrecognized. After all I've got an Olympic bronze and hold the Commonwealth record." She later claimed to have been misquoted. McDonald proceeded to gold and silver in the 800m and 400m events, finishing one position ahead of Elford in both cases. She also claimed a gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay alongside Elford.

The Queensland swimmer finally got her recognition, when she was named as the Australian swimming captain for the 1991 World Championships in Perth. After failing to qualify for either the 400m or 800m freestyle final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, she retired, but made a comeback in 1995 in an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

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