Stephanie Rice Biography
Stephanie Rice Biography Snapshot:
Date of Birth: 17 June 1988
Hometown: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height: 176cm
Weight: 68kg
Olympic Medals:
Three Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Current World Record:
400m Individual Medley in 4 minutes 29.45 seconds at the Beijing Olympics
Swimming Club:
St Peters Western Swimming Club, Brisbane
Coach: Michael Bohl
Age started swimming: 18 months of age.
Strokes: Butterfly, freestyle, Individual Medley
Sponsors: SunRice
Stephanie Rice burst onto the international stage in 2006, when, at just 17, she won gold in the 200 & 400 Individual Medley at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She followed that success in 2007 with two bronze medals in the same events at the World Swimming Championships, also in Melbourne.
In 2008, Stephanie Rice cemented her dominance in both Individual medleys and as the lead off swimmer in the 4x200 Freestyle relay team, with the stunning haul of three Olympic Gold medals and three World records. She also took home the title of "Most outstanding female athlete at the Beijing Olympics" and was honoured to be Australia’s flag-bearer during the closing ceremony.
Following the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Stephanie was named World Swimmer of the Year, Telstra Australian Swimmer of the Year, Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year and Queensland Sportswoman of the Year. She was also awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.
In 2009 Stephanie Rice won two silver and one bronze medal at the World Swimming Championships in Rome.
In September 2010, Stephanie Rice underwent surgery on her right shoulder to remove an inflamed bursa, which saw her withdraw from the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Stephanie underwent several months of intensive rehabilitation including regular physiotherapy, and her training schedule was changed to light swimming and dry land training, before she made a gradual return to her pre-surgery training schedule.
Her first competition after surgery was at the Queensland State Championships in December 2010, followed by the NSW State Swimming Championships in February 2011.
At the National Championships at Sydney Olympic Park in April 2011- her first major meet since shoulder surgery - Stephanie won the 400m Individual Medley and came second in the 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly & 200m Individual Medley. Stephanie secured the most individual swims of the Australian team for the Shanghai World Championships but made the decision to drop the 100m Butterfly to concentrate on the Individual Medley.
In June 2011 Stephanie spent three weeks in Mexico training at high altitude before competing in the Santa Clara International Swim Meet. Stephanie won gold at this meet in the 400m Individual Medley with a time of 4:36.5 which was the 3rd fastest time swum in the world this year.
At the 2011 World Swimming Championships in Shanghai (July 2011) her first major International meet since 2009, Stephanie won 2 Bronze medals, for the 400 Individual Medley (in a time of 4:34.23) and for the 4 x 100 Medley Relay. Stephanie came 4th in the 200 Individual Medley and 5th in the 200 Butterfly, her 2 other Individual events.
Her next focus will then be on the London 2012 Olympics.
Stephanie Rice trains at the St Peters Western Club in the inner western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, under the guidance of Head Coach, Michael Bohl, who was awarded the Australian Swim Coach of the Year in 2008.
When she is not training, Stephanie enjoys spending time relaxing and eating out with friends, watching movies, listening to music, ten pin bowling and playing mini golf.
Stephanie Rice is sponsored by SunRice.