Portrait of Shane Gould

Birthday profile

Shane Gould

Shane Gould, Australian swimmer and coach

Born
November 23, 1956
Age in 2026
70
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1956

About Shane Gould

Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise. Gould was born in Australia, but spent most of her childhood in Fiji after she and her family moved there. After her 1972 Olympic performance, Gould was named the Australian of the Year, and received an MBE in 1981. In April 2018, Gould was awarded an Order of Merit by the Australian Olympic Committee. Gould returned in the 1990s as a swimming mentor and competitor, and again competed in 2003, specializing in the 200m Individual Medley. In 1999, she published her autobiography Tumble Turns. In 2018, she competed on Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders and won, receiving $500,000 as the Sole Survivor. Gould later returned for Australian Survivor: All Stars, but was voted out first.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Shane Gould timeline

  1. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals.
  2. In April 2018, Gould was awarded an Order of Merit by the Australian Olympic Committee.
  3. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise.

The world when Shane Gould was born

Shane Gould was born in 1956. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1956

  • #1 song"Heartbreak Hotel" – Elvis Presley
  • Top movieAround the World in 80 Days
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookPeyton Place – Grace Metalious

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentDon Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series
  • Top headlineElvis Presley takes America by storm
  • Technology milestoneFirst transatlantic telephone cable (TAT-1)
  • Defining fadElvis Presley mania
  • Notable inventionHard disk drive (IBM)
  • World population2.82 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonPhiladelphia Warriors (NBA)
  • U.S. population168.1M

1956 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Shane Gould's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19562026
Gas$0.30$3.45/gal
Average home$11,700$435,000
Average income$6,500$67,500
Minimum wage$1.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.50$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population168.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, International Olympic Committee, Olympedia. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.