Gail Neall - Early Years

Early Years

The youngest of four children, Neall's family moved to Brisbane in the year of her birth. Her father Allan was a graduate of the University of Queensland and had found a job with an oil company. Her brother was 13 years older than she was, while her two sisters were twelve and eight years her senior, respectively. Her family had a backyard pool, something that was rather uncommon during the 1950s in Australia. Neall was initially timid, and would not take her feet from the bottom of the pool. When asked about who taught her to swim, she would attribute it to her mother Thelma, who could not swim at all.

Neall had her first swimming instruction from Marlene Town, a former Queensland champion. Despite her progress, her school swimming coach did not regard her as suitable for the Nundah Primary School team, and went to the trouble of filming her breaststroke technique to show the other children what not to do. Neall's father cited his daughter's personal trait of wanting to prove her sceptics wrong as a major attribute in her future success. He took her to Arthur Cusack at Brisbane's Centenary Pool, and only two weeks later, she came third in the under-9 division of the 50 m freestyle at the State Schools Championships.

Soon after, the family moved back to Sydney, and Gail began to swim under Harold Reid at the Frank O'Neill pool at Pymble, New South Wales. In 1965, she joined the Ryde Amateur Swimming Club, which was sold in 1966 to Forbes Carlile. Carlile was regarded as the leading Australian coach of the time, so she was integrated into his squad.