Brad Woodward, who grew up on the NSW Central Coast, is as at home on the beach as he is in the pool and as he teenager he excelled as both a swimmer and a lifesaver to the point where he is still called upon to rescue swimmers in trouble at his local beaches.

Brad started swimming lessons before he could walk and as a kid he was a member of the Mingara Aquatic Swim Club and Shelly Beach Surf Club.

He has represented Australia in surf lifesaving several times, including the 2017 World Games and the 2019 International German Cup, where he set a new world record in the 200m obstacles swim.

In the pool, Bradley initially enjoyed the explosiveness of butterfly, but after suffering a shoulder injury when he was 12 began to focus on backstroke.

His breakthrough meet came at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, he took home gold in the 4x100m medley relay and silver in both the 100m and 200m backstroke.

Bradley doubled his medal tally at his second Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, winning silver in 200m backstroke, bronze in the 100m backstroke and silver in the 4x100m medley relay.

He was part of a bronze medal-winning 4x100m medley relay team at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and upgraded to silver at the 2024 World Championships in Doha.

Bradley finished second in the 200m backstroke and third in the 100m backstroke at the 2024 Australian championships on the Gold Coast in April.

He fulfilled a lifelong dream when he qualified for his first Olympics after winning the men’s 200m backstroke final at the Australian Selection Trials in Brisbane in June (1:56.22). He also finished second in the 100m backstroke.

POD POP UP STAT: Brad has two role models that he looks up to – the first Ky Hurst because he is also from the Central Coast and not only dominated in Surf Life Saving for years but also made two Olympic Games in swimming. The other is American Aaron Piersol, who is arguably the greatest backstroker in history having competed at three Olympics for a haul of seven medals.