Career
She was often considered to be an outspoken and controversial swimmer, who switched to distance freestyle after starting as backstroker. McDonald came to the 1988 Seoul Olympics as one of the fancied competitors in the 800m freestyle, and claimed the bronze medal, behind Janet Evans and East Germany"s Astrid Strauss. McDonald was quoted as saying "I thought a typical Aussie had blonde hair, blue eyes and a tan.
. I feel snubbed and unrecognized. After all I"ve got an Olympic bronze and hold the Commonwealth record." She later claimed to have been misquoted. She also claimed a gold in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay alongside Elford.
The Queensland swimmer finally got her recognition, when she was named as the Australian swimming captain for the 1991 World Championships in Perth.
After failing to qualify for either the 400- or 800-metre freestyle final at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she retired, but made a comeback in 1995 in an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Julie McDonald is the sister of former Seven newsreader, Darren McDonald.
