Bradley Woodward

Bradley 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. 

In fact, he’s often been called upon to rescue swimmers in trouble at his local beaches. 

“The beaches along the Central Coast... yeah... there’s a few that can be dangerous at the best of times,” he says. 

Bradley started swimming lessons before he could walk and as a kid he was a member of both 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 he began to focus on backstroke after some good performances at the NSW Country Championships. 

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 that 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 qualified for his first Olympics when he won the men’s 200m backstroke final at the Australian trials in Brisbane in June in a time of 1:56.22. He also finished second in the 100m backstroke.