Pioneering Australian swimming coach Ursula Carlile has died aged 86.

Carlile was the first and only woman to become the head coach of the Australian swimming team, leading the squad at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and 1975 World Championships.

She coached Shane Gould at the 1972 Olympics to three gold medals and three world records.

Carlile is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the wife of legendary swimming coach Forbes Carlile.

"She was a pioneer and a leader in her own right," Carlile Foundation director Tim Ford said.

"At a time when our sport was dominated by highly conservative thinking and practices, overt officialdom and very limited opportunities for female coaches, she blazed a trail to be the first female coach of an Australian Olympic swimming team.

"An amazing achievement, despite the obstacles."

Ford, who was coached by Carlile before joining Carlile Swimming, said she was a "quiet achiever" and "fiercely determined".

"Ursula had a wonderful and unique set of characteristics — unwavering loyalty to Forbes, passion for her beloved Ryde Swimming Club, diligence and commitment to coaching and deep care for her swimmers," he said.

"She was the epitome of the quiet achiever. Given Forbes's larger-than-life personality, and with her natural reserve and humility, Ursula's profile was often secondary to Forbes's. However, it was a big mistake to underestimate the impact that Ursula had on the Carlile organisation.

"She was fiercely determined, highly intelligent and technically excellent."