Melanie Wright (nee Schlanger) – Swimming – 2008, 2012
MBA, Bachelor of Medical Studies and Doctor of Medicine
Melanie Wright is a strong believer that life balance is crucial for elite performance and she certainly found that during her time as an ADCO Sports Excellence Scholar at Bond University.
“Having something else to commit to while swimming (was) a blessing,” says the two-time Olympian, who completed an MBA and medical studies while pursuing her sporting ambitions.
“I find university studies and sport complement each other really because life balance is really important in elite performance … there is no better feeling than achieving a goal I’ve worked hard for.”
That being the case, Wright had plenty to feel good about during her swimming career.
Having first tasted success as a member of the gold-medal-winning 4x100m freestyle relay team at the 2007 World Championships, she soon found herself on a plane to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. More importantly, she returned home with two medals including a gold after swimming in the heats of 4x200m freestyle ahead of the first-choice quartet’s world-record-breaking swim in the final.
Four years later, Wright got to stand atop the podium herself after anchoring the 4x100m freestyle relay team to Australia’s only gold in the pool at the 2012 London Games. By claiming silver in two other relays, she ultimately retired with five Olympic medals but today she is just as proud of the medical qualifications she attained from Bond.
“I started out as a kid wanting to be a doctor, well before I wanted to go to the Olympics, so to get to this point is pretty special,” she says.