She is the current world record holder in the short course m freestyle. Campbell has eight Olympic medals, four of which are gold, across four Olympics.
Campbell was Australia's joint flagbearer at the Tokyo Olympics. Campbell is regarded as one of the greatest Australian swimmers and one of the best relay swimmers of all time, holding four of the fastest m freestyle splits in history at the time of her retirement.
Cate is the first of five children born to South African parents, Eric, an accountant, and Jenny, a nurse. Her brother Hamish has severe cerebral palsy and requires around-the-clock care. Jenny used to be a swimmer and taught her three daughters to swim, [ 10 ] in the pool at the family's home. Cate also recalls swimming near Hippopotami in Lake Malawi as a small child. It was in this lake that her father, Eric, would go sailing on weekends.
They had many pets, including turkeys, guinea pigs, dogs, cats, and chickens. Campbell describes every morning like "an Easter egg hunt; the chickens would lay eggs all around the house.
During her schooling, Campbell states she could not sing or dance, but swimming was something in which she excelled. She also stated she received top marks for public speaking at school.
