Gina Rinehart offers big bonuses for Australian swimmers who win medals and break world records
Article by Bryce Luff of 7News.
23/07/2026
Australian athletes going for gold in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow could be in for a cash windfall.
Billionaire Gina Rinehart will once again offer a lucrative financial reward to members of the Dolphins squad who medal or break a world record.
Under the bonus scheme, individual swimmers will pocket $20,000 for each gold draped around their neck, $15,000 for every silver and $10,000 for each bronze.
Touching the wall in a world record time will deliver a $30,000 bonus.
Members of relay teams will also be rewarded with $7500 per person for a world record, $5000 for a gold medal, $3750 for a silver, and $2500 for bronze.
“There is something very uplifting about seeing an Australian athlete stand on the podium while our flag is raised,” mining magnate Rinehart said.
“Such exciting times make Australians proud and deserve to be celebrated.
“Athletes who win multiple medals will receive a payment for every medal they win, with payments deposited directly into their accounts within two weeks of the Games concluding.”
Rinehart is the patron of the Australian Dolphins Swim Team, Swimming WA, Swimming QLD, Rowing Australia, and Artistic Swimming Australia.
A number of Australia’s top swimmers were believed to have been considering bypassing the Commonwealth Games to focus on the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in August, before Rinehart stepped in.
“These bonuses are a way of Australia saying thank you and showing the appreciation our athletes deserve for bringing our country such a sense of pride and achievement,” she said.
Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting have supported swimming for more than three decades, and it was revealed in 2023 that she had poured $60 million into various Australian Olympic teams, including The Dolphins.
She stepped up her backing after a disastrous 2012 Olympics where Australia won just one gold in the pool. Rinehart also supports some athletes directly with funding and scholarships.
Australian swimmers claimed 25 gold medals out of a possible 52 at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Australia has sent a 60-strong Dolphins team to the Glasgow Games, including champions Kyle Chalmers, Mollie O’Callaghan and Cam McEvoy.
Pole vaulter Nina Kennedy and swimmer Tim Hodge will lead the Australians into the opening ceremony on Friday morning (AEST) as the nation’s flag and baton bearers.
