According to the facebook page of Swimming Queensland, three Australian athletes will share the 2015 Susie O’Niell award. The award is given annually to recognize outstanding achievement by a Queensland swimmer.
Mitch Larkin, Bronte Campbell and Emily Seebohm were judged to be equally deserving of the award on the basis of their world championship titles this past summer in Kazan. Each won two titles, with Seebohm and Larkin winning both the 100/200 backstrokes while Campbell took the 50 and 100 freestyle.
The award is named after acclaimed Australian swimmer Susie O’Niell, who won eight Olympic medals over a long career that spanned a decade at the international level. Her eight Olympic medals ties her for the most ever by an Australian women with fellow legends Dawn Fraser, Petria Thomas and Leisel Jones.
Now both Campbell sisters can count themselves as O’Niell award winners, as Bronte’s sister Cate was last year’s winner. This is the first time that Larkin, Campbell or Seebohm have received the award.