Cate And Bronte Campbell, Elite Aussie Swimmers Inspiration In Motion

Believing in destiny, fate or the inevitable can be troubling since part of the reasoning in that equation is that much of your future in life is out of your control.

Like being afflicted with a hernia prior to the biggest swimming meet of you and your country’s life.

Even if Australia’s brilliant Olympic Swimmer Cate Campbell doesn’t believe in any of the above, it had to be extremely frustrating for her that of all times to be injured was during her chance to make history at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

What makes Cate’s story unique is a combination of many factors.

First of all, she has a brilliant sister, Bronte, who is a super star swimmer as well.

To fully understand her present life altering moment, let’s venture into her star studded and blockbuster trophy past.

Her sister’s life is extremely fascinating as well.

CATE CAMPBELL

Cate Natalie Campbell was born May 20, 1992.

She is an Australian competitive swimmer who won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a gold and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the current world record holder in both the short and long course 100 meter individual freestyle events.

Thus far, that is an unbelievable and sensational resume but there is so much more.

The very nice site mic.com relates, “Cate dominated swimming in Australia for two years straight. Cate was named the Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year in 2013 and 2014. She won seven gold medals and four silver medals in that two-year span.”

At the 2013 Australian Swimming Championships she won gold in both the 50 and 100 meter freestyle events, qualifying for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships.

At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, she won gold in the 4 × 100 meter freestyle relay, beating the Dutch and US teams by wide margins.

At the 2016 Australian Swimming Championships she won the 100 meter freestyle to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. She broke the Australian record in the 50 meter freestyle in the semifinals with a time of 23.93, which was the fastest time ever in a textile swimsuit.

Okay, what is a textile swimming suit?

We didn’t realize there had been some controversy over usage of other swim suit materials.

According to a 2010 article at http://abcnews.go.com, “The full body swimsuit made famous by Michael Phelps and other Beijing Olympians in 2008 won’t be seen on anywhere on deck this year. Beginning this year, swimmers are banned worldwide from wearing polyurethane and neoprene suits during competition.

Since then, some swimmers, including Phelps, have been competing in the older, textile, navel-to-knee-length suits for men, and in textile, shoulder-to-knee-length suits for women. Textile fabric is defined by USA Swimming as “material consisting of natural and/or synthetic, individual and non-consolidated yarns used to constitute a fabric by weaving, knitting and/or braiding.”

Where have we been?

The rub seems to be the other Super Suits allowed for so many records to broken artificially that something had to done so that the older broken records were not rendered meaningless and future broken records in mass would be devalued.

This is why we love researching Fem Competitors around our globe. We learn so much.

A more defined perspective is brought to Cate’s incredible accomplishments wearing the textile swimming suit.

Good for Cate.

At the 2016 Australian Grand Prix meet, Cate broke the long course 100 meter freestyle world record in a time of 52.06. This was 0.01 seconds faster than the previous world record set by Britta Steffen during the super suit era.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics Campbell won a gold medal as a member of the Australian women’s 4 x 100m freestyle team. The team, which included Campbell’s sister Bronte, set a world record time of 3:30.65. This was followed by a silver medal as a member of the women’s 4 x 100m medley team.

Congratulations Cate on a spectacular career.

Standing next to Cate is her beautiful sister Bronte.

BRONTE CAMPBELL

Bronte Campbell was born May 14, 1994.

She also is an Australian competitive swimmer who is an Olympic gold-winner, world champion, and world record-holder.

Bronte won three gold medals at the 2015 World Championships, including the 50 and 100 meter freestyle events.

We receive further insight from the informative site swimswam.com who share, “Campbell really broke out on the international level in 2009 at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, but in 2011 she won gold in the 50m freestyle at the FINA World Junior Championships held in Peru.

In 2012 Campbell and her sister, Cate, qualified for the London Olympics in the same event – the 50m freestyle. They were the first set of Australian siblings to make an Olympic Games in the same event.”

As phenomenal as her previous results were, at the 2015 FINA World Championships Bronte had one of the best meets of her career earning a gold medal in the 100 meter event.

Great job Bronte.

Enjoying the accomplishments of Cate and Bronte can be overwhelming. In the press they have often been compared to Serena and Venus Williams of tennis lore due to possible sibling rivalry and global domination of their sports.

**fciwomenswrestling.com article, Fox Sports photo credit**

So for a change of pace, let’s take a break for a quick pop quiz.

Where were Cate and Bronte born?

Sydney
Perth
Brisbane
England
Africa

Now don’t look it up. Okay? What’s your answer? We know that you got it right and where was it?

If you answered Africa, you receive an A. Let’s visit their birthplace.

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland.

Lilongwe

It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Malawi which is over 45,560 square miles.

To gain some perspective as to how massive Lake Malawi, the great American state of Ohio, not considered a small state in land mass, is 44,825 miles.

That is mind boggling.

With an estimated population of 16,777,547 as of July 2013, Malawi’s capital is Lilongwe, which is also Malawi’s largest city; the second largest is Blantyre, the third is Mzuzu and the fourth largest is its old capital Zomba.

The country is nicknamed “The Warm Heart of Africa”.

Malawi is among the world’s least-developed countries. The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population.

**fciwomenswrestling.com article, photo by swathi-sridharan-wikipedia**

Since 2005, Malawi has developed several programs that focus on these issues, and the country’s outlook appears to be improving, with a rise in the economy, education and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008.

There is a diverse population of native peoples, Asians and Europeans, with several languages spoken and a wide variety of religious beliefs.

The exciting risk taking travel group Lonely Planet has been to Malawi as well. As always, their writers are very entertaining in how they enlighten. “Often dismissed as ‘Africa for beginners’, Malawi has historically been overlooked as an interloper at the table of great safari destinations. That is until a lion reintroduction program commenced in 2012 and travel editors suddenly started salivating.

Aside from its animals, what immediately captures you about this vivid country is its geographical diversity. Slicing through the landscape in a trough formed by the Great Rift Valley is Africa’s third largest lake – Lake Malawi; a shimmering mass of glittering clear water, its depths are swarming with colorful cichlid fish. Whether it’s diving, snorkeling, kayaking or chilling out on one of its desert islands, a visit to the lake is a must.”

We’re convinced. We wonder if Cate and Bronte had a chance to swim in the lake.

The government would love for you to come. At malawitourism.com they smile, “The Warm Heart of Africa is beating faster now and the legendary welcome is there for all who wish to experience the unrivalled combination of Lake, Landscape, Wildlife & Culture in one of Africa’s most beautiful and compact countries.”

Sounds enticing.

Just like wanting to know more about Cate and Bronte.

As we begin to board our plane we are filled with hope.

In another important story reported by malawitourism.com, “Prince Harry spent almost three weeks on the ground in Malawi with African Parks, a conservation NGO that manages protected areas and national parks on behalf of governments, where he served as part of the expert team and helped implement the first phase of ‘500 elephants’.

This initiative is one of the largest and most significant elephant translocations in conservation history where up to 500 elephants are being moved over 350 kilometers across Malawi from Liwonde National Mark and Majete Wildlife Reserve to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, where the elephants will be able to thrive. All three parks are managed by African Parks in partnership with the Malawi Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW).”

The world should thank Prince Harry for becoming involved in trying to preserve one of the world’s most magnificent and precious animals.

They add that under mounting pressure from poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict, the African elephant is being increasingly threatened in many parts of the continent.

Once numbering as many as 10,000,000 a century ago, recent census results indicate they have been reduced to fewer than 450,000. With between 30,000 to 40,000 elephants being poached every year to feed the insatiable demand for ivory, their long-term survival at risk.

As you can see Malawi has an evolving story to tell.

So does Cate and Bronte.

In their evolving story, the accounting at dailymail.co.uk reads, “Australian swimming sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell were left devastated after failing to get among the medals in the 100m freestyle final on Thursday night in Rio. Cate finished sixth, while Bronte was in fourth place. It was a tough loss for both sisters to take but it was particularly hard for Cate who went into the race as a hot favorite.”

Cate had surgery last year after developing a hernia just before she entered the world championships.

Hernia aside, Cate freely admitted that some of the hype got to her. No doubt it was disappointing for both of these very talented young girls but this is why their story is evolving.

Born in Blantyre, Malawi. The sisters moved to Brisbane, Australia when Cate was 9 and Bronte was 7. After swimming in the waters of hot Africa for years, they moved to Australia, bonded with their new country made Australia proud.

Malawi too.

The two super star sisters told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2014 that they find inspiration in their younger brother Hamish, who has cerebral palsy. Hamish requires 24-hour care and is unable to speak.

At Fem Competitor, we ourselves from the elite high school sports world where one of our young male students finished 2008 as California’s number one ranked senior in the brutally competitive Men’s 100 meter event, we learned an extremely important life lesson during that arduous campaign in the burning hot Golden State sun.

If you learn from your mistakes and don’t let your disappointments overwhelm, you will rise again.

As you might guess we proudly relate that accomplishment in our circles but what we almost always leave out was a monumental fact.

He lost two of the most important races leading up to the state championship.

After applying what we learned from our mistakes, he rose from the ashes to win the State title.

Cate and Bronte have made all of us very proud. They will continue to break records that will take our breath away. We will be cheering them on.