Alicia Coutts

Nickname

Couttsie. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Hobbies

Shopping and going to the movies. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Occupation

Athlete, Office Worker

Language(s) spoken

English

Club name

Redlands SC/Australia Institute of Sport [AIS], Brisbane, QLD, AUS

Coach

John Fowlie (AUS) from 2007 (splashmagazine.com.au, 07 Jun 2011)

Injuries

Bowel problems required surgery in 2007 and again in 2009, causing her to miss the world championships that year. (aliciacoutts.com.au, 2010)

Glandular fever prevented her from competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games selection trials. (NOC, 14 Jul 2008)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
She began swimming at age two. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Reason for taking up this sport
She wanted to swim in the next door neighbours pool. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Ambitions
In 2011 following her return to form from a second bout of major abdominal surgery, she spoke of her renewed approach to swimming. "Obviously it was difficult trying to overcome the surgeries and things like that. They were quite major setbacks in my career and there were times where I thought I would just give up [and say] 'That's it, I've had enough, there's no point'. It was quite tough, but once I got over that, I knew that, deep in there, that I wanted to be the best in Australia or be the best I could be. Obviously, I had a point to prove as well." (heraldsun.com.au, 24 Jul 2011)


Most memorable sporting achievement
Coming fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the 200m individual medley. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Hero
The Australian swimmer Susie O'Neill. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Most influential person in career
Her mother as "she always supported me". (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Superstitions / Rituals
She doesn't cut her nails before she races and she always does exactly the same routine. (NOC, 11 Jul 2008)

Sporting philosophy / motto
"Success isn't final, failure isn't fatal, it's courage that counts." (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010)

Awards
In 2010 she won the Telstra Swimmer of the Year Award. (aliciacoutts.com.au, 17 Nov 2011)

She carried the Australian flag at the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. (aliciacoutts.com.au, 17 Nov 2011)

General
CAT LOVER
She works with lost kittens at an animal shelter in Australia when she is not training. (FINA Aquatics World Magazine, 12 Jun 2011)

SWIMMING FOR HER FATHER
Her father Gary died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when she was seven years old, after a seven year battle with the disease. Her family sometimes struggled financially during his illness and swim coach Dave Urquhart trained Alicia for over a decade for free, developing her into an elite swimmer. "He became a surrogate father [to her]," said Alicia's mother Julie. When Alicia was five her father told her "you'll go to an Olympics one day" and she says she has swum for him ever since, realising his belief in 2008 when she competed at the Olympic Games in Beijing. (heraldsun.com.au, 24 Jul 2011)

MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY
In July 2007 she had major abdominal surgery for an interception of the bowel [doctors removed 15cm of her bowel and in the process found a benign tumour] which put her out of the pool for several months. Following the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, she says she returned to training too soon and exacerbated the problem, requiring abdominal surgery again in March 2009. Following the first surgery in 2007 she struggled to return to her optimal competitive weight, which took a mental toll. "It was just a daily battle. I'd come home and I'd just cry because I'd be like, 'Why am I doing this?'". But she overcame her complications and returned to form to win five gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, despite being five kilograms over her optimal 67kg race weight. (swimming.org.au, 16 Jun 2010; heraldsun.com.au, 24 Jul 2011)

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008