Australia’s swimmers come home from Glasgow with a haul that’s more than gold medals, thanks to Gina Rinehart. For a team that has just delivered one of Australia’s greatest ever swimming performances, it’s a fitting way to say thank you.
Commonwealth Games patron, Gina Rinehart, is making sure our Aussie swimmers know how much their country appreciates their hard work and performances. Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting will pay out $1,272,500 in bonuses to the Commonwealth Games medal winners, a reward for a campaign in which the swim team claimed 75 of Australia’s 103 medals, including 36 of the 47 golds.
Australia’s swim team on top of the world after another stellar Commonwealth Games campaign.
Rinehart says their success reflects years of sacrifice most of us never see. “Few people, outside of the swimming families, truly understand the years of hard work, discipline and sacrifice required to compete at this international level,” she said. “Yet again, our Aussie swimmers punched well above our population size.”
Thanks to Rinhart, every medal is rewarded and swimmers who feature in a medal-winning relay final are paid in full, while those who swim only in the heats receive half that rate. Two swimmers who tied for gold in an individual event will both be paid the full gold bonus.
Here’s the breakdown:
| Medal | Individual event | Relay (per person) |
| Gold | $20,000 | $5,000 |
| Silver | $15,000 | $3,750 |
| Bronze | $10,000 | $2,500 |
| World record | $30,000 | $7,500 |
“Our swimmers have come so far since the London Olympics, where just one swimming gold medal was won, to now standing as the second-best swimming nation in the world,” Rinehart said. “I’m pleased to be able once again to provide financial rewards to our medal winners in the sports where I’m patron. It’s a way of saying thank you and showing appreciation for their dedication and achievements, the pride they make Australians feel, right across our country, and for being the inspiring young ambassadors that they truly are.”
