Libby Trickett

Nickname

Libby the Lobster. (Swimming Australia 27 Feb 2004, sunsuper.com.au 2006)

Hobbies

Playing tennis, rollerblading, following the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team, sleeping, hanging out with friends, chocolate, reading, watching movies and going to the beach. (sunsuper.com.au, 2006; Swimming Australia, 21 Jun 2005; national.com.au, 23 Dec 2006)

Occupation

Athlete, Student

Education

Business, Communications - Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, AUS

Family

Husband Luke Trickett

Language(s) spoken

English

Club name

Chandler Swimming Club, Brisbane, QLD, AUS

Coach

Stephan Widmer (AUS) from 2002-2008, 2011-present (london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

Other sports

Her husband Luke Trickett is a breaststroke swimmer. He tried [but did not] qualify for the Australian 2008 Beijing Olympic Games team. (NOC, 14 Jun 2008)

Debut

2003 for Australia, World Championships (Spain) (Swimming Australia 08 Apr 2003)

Injuries

She injured her wrist causing her to miss some of the first half of 2011. (swimnews.dk, 02 Oct 2011)

"I've very fortunately not had any injuries really. I've had one cortisone injection into my knee, and that's the only thing I've had in seven years of racing at the sort-of highest level. So I've been very lucky injury-wise, and [retiring in 2009] wasn't ever about being physically impaired in any way, shape or form."
(abc.net.au, 03 Sep 2010)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
She first learned to swim at age one. She joined a swimming club in Townsville at age four and competed in her first state championships at age eight. (QAS, 04 Jun 2004)

Reason for taking up this sport
"I never had a firm idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just knew that I loved sport. Sport in every shape and form, but swimming was always my favourite. I had no idea where that love would take me. I love swimming. It is a part of my life and I would be lost without it. I love to challenge myself and push myself to accomplish my goals and aspire to do the best I possibly can." (london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012; QAS, 04 Jun 2004)

Ambitions
In 2012, she said: "I would like to swim on until at least the end of this year, potentially do the World Cup tour and also the world short-course championships, that's my dream. I can see myself still swimming because I'm really enjoying the sport, I'm very passionate. I have a real love of what I'm doing right now but at the same time I've got this biological clock that's ticking, so I would really like to start a family as well. Whether I can balance the two or have to decide one or the other way, I'm not sure what will happen."
(timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 14 Mar 2012)

Training
"We train pretty long hours but there's a fair bit of variety there. It's not just freestyle, we swim all strokes and then there's gym work and running and lots of other stuff out of the pool. And we get massages as part of training too – that's definitely my favourite part." She trains at the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane. (sunsuper.com.au 2006; london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

Most memorable sporting achievement
"Breaking my first world record in the 100m freestyle in the semi-final at Olympic Trials in Sydney, 2004; winning my first individual gold medal in the 100m butterfly at the Olympic Games in Beijing, 2008; and unofficially being the first woman to break 53 seconds in the 100m freestyle at the Duel in the Pool, Sydney 2007."
(london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

Hero
Roger Federer. (london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

Most influential person in career
Her mother. (Australian Media Guide, 2007)

Superstitions / Rituals
She carries a handmade book of quotes to each competition for inspiration. (QAS, 21 Jun 2005 and Australian Media Guide, 2007)

She always wears a new cap and swimsuit for each competition. (NOC, 14 May 2008)

Sporting philosophy / motto
"They never said it would be easy, they just said it would be worth it." (london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

Awards
Female Athlete of the Year at the 2008 Australian Sport Awards. (news.theage.com.au, 20 Feb 2008)

Australian Swimmer of the Year in 2006 and also won the Telstra People's Choice award, the Speedo Short Course Swimmer of the Year award, shared the Swimming Australia Golden Moment prize and earned selection on the first official Telstra Australian All Star Swim Team. (eSwimmer, 15 Dec 2006).

Awarded the FINA Trophy for the Best Female Athlete at the 2006 FINA World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China. (Swimming Australia, 10 Apr 2006)

Order of Australia Medal in 2005. (Queensland Swimming, 21 Feb 2006)

She was named Swimming Australia's Discovery of the Year and Short Course Swimmer of the Year for 2003. (Swimming Australia, 15 Feb 2003)

She became the first Australian woman to break 25 seconds in the 50m freestyle at the 'Duel in the Pool' meet against the United States in Indianapolis in 2003. (QAS, 23 Feb 2006)

General
RETIREMENT AND RETURN
At the end of 2009, at the age of 24, she decided to retire from professional swimming and pursued a career in the media. After nine months out of the sport she made the decision to reignite her career in September 2010. She needed to lose 10kg to return to her race weight and match it with some of her younger rivals.
(london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

BODY ART
"I have six tattoos: A butterfly [left hip] representing the 100m butterfly [Olympic gold medal] in Beijing; my husband's initials [lower back to the right]; an infinity symbol [right foot] that my husband and I got matching tattoos for our one year anniversary; a lotus flower [neck] which is a matching tattoo with my school friends, and also has Buddhist meaning; writing that says 'Light of my world' [left wrist] which represents all the wonderful things in my life; and writing that says 'Know Thyself' [right wrist] which is a reminder to stay true to who I am." (london2012.com.au, 21 Apr 2012)

DEALING WITH LOW PERIODS
Though never diagnosed formally with depression herself, several of her family members have suffered from depression and she herself has admitted to experiencing low periods. She also says that swimming has helped her through these. "There have certainly been moments for me when I was down for a couple of weeks. [During retirement] I would never say that I was depressed but, certainly, you feel a little bit lost, you feel a little bit flat. I have only just started this journey to swim again but already I feel lighter. I've been very grateful that I've been able to have this positive aspect in my life [with swimming] that has just filtered through the other parts of my life." She is also an ambassador for Black Dog Institute, a clinical and educational organisation offering expertise in mood disorders. (news.com.au, 05 Sep 2010)

OLYMPIC INITIATION
She feels that a relatively unsuccessful Olympic debut in Athens left her better prepared for her 2008 Olympic performance in Beijing. She says she felt immense pressure being just 19 years old at her first Olympic Games in Athens, and it affected her performance. "I didn't imagine it to go that way. But I wouldn't change it for anything because [the disappointment] has made me the person I am now." (Sydney Morning Herald 02 Nov 2007)

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008, Athens 2004