Melanie Schlanger

Did You Know?

• Melanie only began swimming at the age of 14.
• She completed her secondary school studies at Immanuel Lutheran College.
• She wed fellow Olympic swimmer Chris Wright in September 2014 in Brisbane, Australia.

Sporting career

Melanie Schlanger’s career took off when she helped Australia’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay team win gold at the 2007 World Championships. That year, she also set a world record with the short-course version of the same relay. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she swam the third leg in both the preliminary and final of the 4x100 freestyle relay, earning a bronze medal. She also competed in the heats of the 4x200 freestyle relay and received a gold medal after the top quartet won the final in world-record time.

Four years later in London, she anchored the 4x100 freestyle relay, holding off a late charge from the Netherlands to secure Australia’s only swimming gold of the 2012 Games. She added two silvers in the 4x200 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay. In 2014, she was part of the gold-medal-winning 4x100 freestyle relay that broke a world record, beating a mark set during the “super suit” era. After the 2015 World Championships, now competing as Melanie Wright, she dealt with a recurring rib stress fracture.

Around the same time, she was accepted into Bond University’s medical program and left swimming to become a doctor. Today, she works as a physician on the Sunshine Coast and serves as a brand ambassador for Speedo, Bodyscience, the Brisbane Lions, the Qld Games Foundation, and the Deniliquin Ute Muster.