Stephanie Rice
Encyclopedia
Stephanie Louise Rice OAM
(born 17 June 1988) is an Australia
n swimmer
. She currently holds the world record in the 400 m
women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing. Rice is trained by Michael Bohl from the St Peters Western Swimming Club in Brisbane. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
on 26 January 2009.
in Melbourne, Australia where she defeated Olympians Brooke Hanson
and Lara Carroll
to claim the gold medal in the event in a time of 2:12.90, a personal best by 1.19 sec. She also won the 400m individual medley.
At the 2007 Melbourne World Championships she won a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley in a time of 2 minutes 11.42 seconds, breaking the previous Australian record by a second. American Katie Hoff
won the gold in 2:10.13, with Kirsty Coventry
of Zimbabwe in second place. Rice once again placed third, earning her second bronze medal in the 400m individual medley final. In a new personal best time Rice finished in 4:41.19, taking 0.54 sec off her previous best.
Rice continued her strong performance, setting a new personal best time in the 400m individual medley at an Italian meet in June 2007. Rice went a 4:40.79, edging closer to the elusive 4:40 barrier in the event. At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice smashed her personal best time in the 400m individual medley and finally cracked the 4:40 barrier. In placing second to Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry, Rice set a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18, a personal best by 3.61 sec.
At the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, Rice broke the world record in the 400 m individual medley. Rice stopped the clock at 4 minutes 31.46 seconds, 1.43 seconds off American Katie Hoff's mark of 4:32.89. On 29 June 2008, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Hoff regained the world record from Rice with a time of 4:31.12. Rice claimed her second world record of the meet, when she broke the 200 m individual medley world record, clocking 2 minutes 8.92 seconds to slash almost a full second off the previous record held by China's Wu Yanyan.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, Rice received her first-ever Olympic medal, Australia's first gold medal of the games and its 400th summer Olympic medal, winning the 400m individual medley in a time of 4 minutes 29.45 seconds. In the process she reclaimed the world record from Hoff bettering the mark by 1.67 seconds, thus becoming the first woman to break the 4:30 in the event, (Kirsty Coventry also went under 4:30 in taking the silver).
in 2:10.13, and Kirsty Coventry
of Zimbabwe
, who claimed second place. In the 400 m final, Rice recorded a new personal best time of 4:41.19, shaving 0.54 sec off her previous best.
At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice won silver
behind Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry in the 400 m individual medley. In doing so, she smashed her personal best time by 3.61 seconds, cracking the 4:40 barrier and setting a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18.
and 200 m
individual medleys. In the 400 m, she clocked 4:31.46, 1.43 seconds below American Katie Hoff
's mark of 4:32.89. (Hoff retook the world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials, on 29 June 2008, with a time of 4:31.12.) In the 200 m, she clocked 2:08.92 seconds, taking almost a second off the previous record held by China's Wu Yanyan.
also went under 4:30 in taking the silver)
Her second gold medal of the games
came on 13 August in the 200 m individual medley with a new world record time of 2:08.34. Rice prevailed after being neck and neck with Coventry throughout the last 50 m, who once again followed Rice to beat the old world record. On 14 August she won her third gold medal as part of the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay team
. She led off the team and Australia were in second place at the end of her leg.
, Kylie Palmer
and Meagan Nay, the team was never in medal contention, finishing 5th. Rice retained her 400 IM record however finished with a bronze in the final. She was awarded a silver medal for her contributions in the medley relay heats.
in her high school years in Brisbane, Queensland. She was romantically linked with fellow Australian swimmer and 50m freestyle world-record-holder Eamon Sullivan
. They ended their 2 year relationship in July 2008, just prior to the Beijing Olympics. The couple lived in separate states of Australia (Sullivan in WA and Rice in Queensland) and said the stress of living so far apart and the impending Olympics caused the split, but have conceded that the two are still good friends.
In September 2010, Rice came under fire when she made a homophobic remark on Twitter
following a Rugby Union match in which the Australian Wallabies
defeated the South African Springboks
. Rice's Twitter message said "Suck on that faggots!". Rice later removed the remark and apologised for it, however Rice's sponsor Jaguar severed all ties with her and requested the return of a loan vehicle.
She is currently dating Australian rugby union
player Quade Cooper
. They were first seen together in public when she attended the John Eales Medal awards ceremony with him in Sydney during late 2010.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 17 June 1988) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n swimmer
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. She currently holds the world record in the 400 m
World record progression 400 metres medley
The first world record in the 400 metres individual medley in long course swimming was recognized by the International Swimming Federation in 1957, followed by the women a year later...
women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing. Rice is trained by Michael Bohl from the St Peters Western Swimming Club in Brisbane. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
on 26 January 2009.
Career
Rice was the gold medallist in the 200 metres individual medley at the 2006 Commonwealth Games2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
in Melbourne, Australia where she defeated Olympians Brooke Hanson
Brooke Hanson
Brooke Louise Hanson OAM is a former Australian swimmer.A swimmer since the age of four, Hanson was the youngest swimmer on the Australian national team at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, where she finished fourth in the 200 m breaststroke...
and Lara Carroll
Lara Carroll
Lara Carroll is an Australian swimmer living in Perth, Australia.She attended Leeming Senior High School in the Suburb of Leeming....
to claim the gold medal in the event in a time of 2:12.90, a personal best by 1.19 sec. She also won the 400m individual medley.
At the 2007 Melbourne World Championships she won a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley in a time of 2 minutes 11.42 seconds, breaking the previous Australian record by a second. American Katie Hoff
Katie Hoff
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...
won the gold in 2:10.13, with Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
of Zimbabwe in second place. Rice once again placed third, earning her second bronze medal in the 400m individual medley final. In a new personal best time Rice finished in 4:41.19, taking 0.54 sec off her previous best.
Rice continued her strong performance, setting a new personal best time in the 400m individual medley at an Italian meet in June 2007. Rice went a 4:40.79, edging closer to the elusive 4:40 barrier in the event. At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice smashed her personal best time in the 400m individual medley and finally cracked the 4:40 barrier. In placing second to Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry, Rice set a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18, a personal best by 3.61 sec.
At the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, Rice broke the world record in the 400 m individual medley. Rice stopped the clock at 4 minutes 31.46 seconds, 1.43 seconds off American Katie Hoff's mark of 4:32.89. On 29 June 2008, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Hoff regained the world record from Rice with a time of 4:31.12. Rice claimed her second world record of the meet, when she broke the 200 m individual medley world record, clocking 2 minutes 8.92 seconds to slash almost a full second off the previous record held by China's Wu Yanyan.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, Rice received her first-ever Olympic medal, Australia's first gold medal of the games and its 400th summer Olympic medal, winning the 400m individual medley in a time of 4 minutes 29.45 seconds. In the process she reclaimed the world record from Hoff bettering the mark by 1.67 seconds, thus becoming the first woman to break the 4:30 in the event, (Kirsty Coventry also went under 4:30 in taking the silver).
2007 World Championships
Rice won bronze in the 200 m and 400 m individual medleys. In the 200 m final, she recorded a time of 2:11.42, a second below the previous Australian record, behind American Katie HoffKatie Hoff
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...
in 2:10.13, and Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, who claimed second place. In the 400 m final, Rice recorded a new personal best time of 4:41.19, shaving 0.54 sec off her previous best.
| 2007 World Championships 2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships or the XII FINA World Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007... Events |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Final medal count: 2 (0 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze) | |||
| Event | Time | Place | |
| 200m IM | 2:11.42 | Bronze | AR |
| 400m IM | 4:41.19 | Bronze | AR |
| 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay | 7:56.42 | 4th | |
2007 Other events
Rice set a new personal best time of 4:40.79 in the 400 m individual medley at an Italian meet in June 2007, edging closer to the 4:40 barrier in the event.At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice won silver
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
behind Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry in the 400 m individual medley. In doing so, she smashed her personal best time by 3.61 seconds, cracking the 4:40 barrier and setting a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18.
2008 Australian Olympic Trials
At the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, Rice broke the world record in both the 400 mWorld record progression 400 metres medley
The first world record in the 400 metres individual medley in long course swimming was recognized by the International Swimming Federation in 1957, followed by the women a year later...
and 200 m
World record progression 200 metres medley
The first world record in the 200 metres individual medley in long course swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation in 1956, followed by the women a year later...
individual medleys. In the 400 m, she clocked 4:31.46, 1.43 seconds below American Katie Hoff
Katie Hoff
Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...
's mark of 4:32.89. (Hoff retook the world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials, on 29 June 2008, with a time of 4:31.12.) In the 200 m, she clocked 2:08.92 seconds, taking almost a second off the previous record held by China's Wu Yanyan.
2008 Summer Olympics
In Beijing, Rice won three gold medals (each in world record time) in the 200 m and 400 m individual medleys and in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay. In winning the 400m individual medley, Rice won her first Olympic medal, Australia's first gold medal of the games and their 400th Summer Olympic medal. Recording a time of 4:29.45, she reclaimed the world record from Hoff, bettering the mark by 1.67 seconds, and became the first woman to break the 4:30 mark in the event. (Kirsty CoventryKirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States...
also went under 4:30 in taking the silver)
Her second gold medal of the games
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
came on 13 August in the 200 m individual medley with a new world record time of 2:08.34. Rice prevailed after being neck and neck with Coventry throughout the last 50 m, who once again followed Rice to beat the old world record. On 14 August she won her third gold medal as part of the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay team
Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.-Qualification summary:-Heats:-Final:...
. She led off the team and Australia were in second place at the end of her leg.
| 2008 Summer Olympics 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events... Events |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Final medal count: 3 (3 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze) | |||
| Event | Time | Place | |
| 200m IM | 2:08.45 | Gold | WR |
| 400m IM | 4:29.45 | Gold | WR |
| 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay | 7:44.31 | Gold | WR |
2009 World Championships
Rice began the meet with a solid performance int the 200m IM, despite losing her world record, she sliced 1.42s off her personal best time capturing a silver medal. Experimenting with the 200 freestyle did not end well as she failed to make the final. With the absence of Linda MackenzieLinda Mackenzie
Linda June Mackenzie OAM is an Australian freestyle swimmer. She tends to prefer the longer 200m/400m/800m events and has won the Australian 400m national title five years in a row...
, Kylie Palmer
Kylie Palmer
Kylie Jayne Palmer OAM , is an Australian distance freestyle swimmer.She attended Grace Lutheran College, Rothwell...
and Meagan Nay, the team was never in medal contention, finishing 5th. Rice retained her 400 IM record however finished with a bronze in the final. She was awarded a silver medal for her contributions in the medley relay heats.
| 2009 World Championships 2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships or the XIII FINA World Championships were celebrated in Rome, Italy in 2009 from July 17 to August 2. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines: diving, swimming, open water swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo.Rome won... Events |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Final medal count: 3 (0 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) | |||
| Event | Time | Place | |
| 200m IM | 2:07.03 | Silver | AR |
| 400m IM | 4:32.29 | Bronze | |
| 200m Freestyle | 1:58.33 | 16th | |
| 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay | 7:46.85 | 5th | |
| 4 x 100m Medley Relay (heats) | 3:58.36 | Silver | |
Awards
- 2008 Telstra Australian Swimmer of the Year.
- Swimming World MagazineSwimming World magazineSwimming World Magazine is an American-based monthly swimming magazine, that was first published in a magazine format as Junior Swimmer in January of 1960...
named Rice as (female) 2008 World Swimmer of the Year as well as Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year
Personal life
Rice attended Clayfield CollegeClayfield College
Clayfield College is an independent, Uniting Church and Presbyterian, day and boarding school, predominantly for girls, located in Clayfield, an inner-northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia....
in her high school years in Brisbane, Queensland. She was romantically linked with fellow Australian swimmer and 50m freestyle world-record-holder Eamon Sullivan
Eamon Sullivan
Eamon Wade Sullivan is an Australian sprint swimmer.-Career :In April 2002 at the Australian Age Championships, Sullivan won the 50 m freestyle and came second in 100 m in his age group, and swam for Australia at Trans Tasman series with no dramatic result.In April 2003 at Brisbane in the Fisher &...
. They ended their 2 year relationship in July 2008, just prior to the Beijing Olympics. The couple lived in separate states of Australia (Sullivan in WA and Rice in Queensland) and said the stress of living so far apart and the impending Olympics caused the split, but have conceded that the two are still good friends.
In September 2010, Rice came under fire when she made a homophobic remark on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
following a Rugby Union match in which the Australian Wallabies
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
defeated the South African Springboks
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
. Rice's Twitter message said "Suck on that faggots!". Rice later removed the remark and apologised for it, however Rice's sponsor Jaguar severed all ties with her and requested the return of a loan vehicle.
She is currently dating Australian rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player Quade Cooper
Quade Cooper
Quade S. Cooper is a New Zealand born Australian rugby union player.He currently plays for the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby competition and the Australia national rugby union team, generally as fly-half.-Career:...
. They were first seen together in public when she attended the John Eales Medal awards ceremony with him in Sydney during late 2010.
External links
- 2005 media guide to swimming event (page 39) Hanson Sport