Madeline Groves – Swimming – 2016
Madeline Groves joined an elite club of two when she was named Bond University Sportswoman of the Year at a glittering ceremony in 2018.
“I am absolutely thrilled to accept this award for the third time,” the Olympic swimmer said upon joining sailing legend Mathew Belcher as the only three-time winners of the university’s top sporting prize.
“There are so many fantastic athletes studying at Bond and we receive so much support to achieve our best both in our field and in the classroom.”
As the Australian national champion in the 200m butterfly from 2013-16, it is no surprise Groves was bestowed with the title of swimming’s ‘Madame Butterfly’.
That sustained success resulted in her selection to represent Australia in the 100m and 200m butterfly at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the latter event seeing her fall an agonising three-hundredths of a second short of toppling Spain’s Mireia Belmonte in the final.
She added a second silver medal to her Olympic haul when she swam in the heats of the 4x100m medley relay, helping put her teammates into the final where they finished second to the US.
Groves also made history at Bond University when, in 2014, she was named the inaugural recipient of the Georgina Hope Rinehart Swimming Excellence Scholarship, which proved invaluable during her time studying for a Bachelor of Social Science.