SWIMMER

Michelle Ford

1962 - Today

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Michelle Jan Ford (born 15 July 1962) is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She was the only non-Eastern Bloc female swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the 1980 games. She also set two world records in her career, and was the first Australian woman to win individual Olympic medals in two distinct specialised strokes. Ford, the second of four children grew up in the seaside Sydney suburb of Sans Souci, familiar with water, as her father Ian, a dentist, had narrowly missed Olympic selection as a yachtsman. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in 16 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 15 in 2024). Michelle Ford is the 367th most popular swimmer (up from 375th in 2024), the 735th most popular biography from Australia (up from 752nd in 2019) and the 24th most popular Australian Swimmer.

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Among SWIMMERS

Among swimmers, Michelle Ford ranks 367 out of 709. Before her are David Wilkie, David Berkoff, Mireia Belmonte, Katrin Meissner, Andrea Fuentes, and Domenico Fioravanti. After her are David Popovici, Grant Hackett, Pavlo Khnykin, Teresa Perales, Brittany Elmslie, and Maya DiRado.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1962, Michelle Ford ranks 1,029. Before her are Stavros Lambrinidis, Chris Savino, Claudia Zaczkiewicz, Patrick Cassidy, Trace Adkins, and Kerrith Brown. After her are Tyler Cowen, Scott Z. Burns, José Youshimatz, Mark Begich, Tammy Jackson, and Lama Abu-Odeh.

Others Born in 1962

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In Australia

Among people born in Australia, Michelle Ford ranks 735 out of 1,143. Before her are David Lyons (1976), Alexander Downer (1951), Stephen Hawkins (1971), Petria Thomas (1975), Josh Helman (1986), and Alicia Molik (1981). After her are Emma Snowsill (1981), Grant Hackett (1980), Tim Forsyth (1973), Megan Marcks (1972), Toby Leonard Moore (1981), and Simmone Jade Mackinnon (1973).

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Among SWIMMERS In Australia

Among swimmers born in Australia, Michelle Ford ranks 24. Before her are Beverley Whitfield (1954), Lyn McClements (1951), Gail Neall (1955), Giaan Rooney (1982), Bronte Barratt (1989), and Petria Thomas (1975). After her are Grant Hackett (1980), Brittany Elmslie (1994), Shayne Reese (1982), Kieren Perkins (1973), Jodie Henry (1983), and Jessicah Schipper (1986).

Australian born Swimmers

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