Shane Gould blazed her way into sporting history, breaking 11 world swimming records and winning five Olympic medals in Munich in 1972, yet her career lasted just three years.

At 13, she became a household name; at 16, she retired and almost disappeared. From her beginnings as a swimming prodigy up to the present, tumble turns is the moving and courageous story of Shane's attempt to forge a normal life for herself and her family, far away from the trappings and temptations of sporting superstardom.

It is the story of her tumble turns, her twists and changes of direction - from her swimming triumphs and the struggles of raising her children in the West Australian bush, to marriage breakdown and her recent return to the media spotlight.

It has taken Shane nearly 30 years to understand what her remarkable achievements gave her in personal terms, as well as their enormous cost to her and those close to her. tumble turns tells the story of those years and how her extraordinary experiences have contributed both to her acceptance of that young swimming phenomenon called Shane Gould, and of the woman she has become.