Ms Stephanie Rice OAM
Published Sun 01 Jan 2017
| SPORT | Swimming |
| YEAR INDUCTED | 2016 - Athlete Member |
Stephanie Rice was a golden girl of Australian swimming through the mid-2000’s and one of the country’s greatest Olympians.
Born in Brisbane and a product of Clayfield College and the Michael Bohl coaching school, she burst onto the world stage as a 17-year-old, winning two gold medals in the 200m individual medley and the 400m individual medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Her big moment came two years later at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when, in a performance as good as any by an Australian swimmer on the international stage, she won three gold medals – all in world record time. She took the 200m and 400m individual medal double and was a member of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.
She was named Australian Swimmer of the Year, Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year and World Swimmer of the Year.
Among Australian swimmers, only Dawn Fraser, Shane Gould, Murray Rose and Ian Thorpe have won more individual Olympic gold.
She also represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics in London after an injury-plagued preparation and won two silver medals plus five bronze medals at the world championships, and two bronze medals at the Pan Pacific Championships.
