Jodie Clare Henry, OAM (born 17 November 1983) is an Australian competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, Olympic gold medallist and former world-record holder.

Early life and career

Henry was born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. She began swimming competitively at the relatively late age of 14. She swam in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, later that year, winning five gold medals.

Swimming career

At the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester, Henry won the women's 100 metre freestyle as well as being a member of the Australian teams that won both the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and the 4×100-metre medley relay. Later that year, she won silver at the Pan Pacific Championships in the 50- and 100-metre freestyle, and helped Australian teams to victory over the Americans in the freestyle and medley relays. In 2003, Henry won the 100-metre silver medal, and picked up bronze medals in both the 4×100-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre medley relays at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona. She was also named the

Speedo Speedo International Limited is a distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England, known for its swim briefs. The company has roots in Australia but is no longer based there. Founded in Sydney in 1914 by A ...

female sprinter of the year for 2003.

2004 Summer Olympics

At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, Henry anchored the Australian women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay team that won the gold in world record time. She then competed in the individual 100-metre freestyle, breaking the previous world record time of 53.66 seconds (set by team member

Libby Lenton Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM (; born 28 January 1985) is a retired Australian swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the shor ...

) with a time of 53.52 seconds in the semifinals. She then went on to win the gold medal for the event, the first Australian to do so since

Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer and former politician. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. ...

40 years earlier. In her final race at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

she swam the last leg (freestyle) of the 4×100-metre medley relay, again helping the Australian team win gold in world record time, leaving her with three gold medals and three world records. * women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay ** 1st- Australia ( Alice Mills,

Petria Thomas Petria Ann Thomas, (born 25 August 1975) is an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist and a winner of 15 national titles. She was born in Lismore, New South Wales, and grew up in the nearby town of Mullumbimby. Career In 1993, at the a ...

, Jodie Henry) 3:35.94 - world record * women's 100-metre freestyle ** Semi-final 2: 1st - 53.52 - world record ** Final: 1st - 53.84 * women's 4×100-metre medley relay ** 1st - Australia (

Giaan Rooney Giaan Leigh Rooney, OAM (born 15 November 1982) is an Australian former competitive swimmer and television personality. As a member of the Australian team in women's 4×100-metre medley relay, she won an Olympic gold medal and broke a world ...

Leisel Jones Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal ...

, Petria Thomas, Jodie Henry) 3:57.32 - world record Henry was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

Medal that year. On 29 November 2004, Henry was named the Australian Swimmer of the Year, becoming just the third woman in 15 years to take the honour, joining Susie O'Neill and

Hayley Lewis Hayley (pronounced ) is an English given name. It is derived from the English surname Haley, which in turn was based on an Old English toponym, a compound of ''heg'' "hay" and ''leah'' "clearing or meadow".Katie Martin-Doyle, ''The Treasury of ...

. Henry also snapped

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

's five-year streak of receiving the award. She narrowly defeated teammate Petria Thomas to take the honour. Henry was also named Female Sprint Freestyler and her win with Thomas,

, and

in the 4×100-metre medley relay in Athens was named the Golden Moment of the Year. After the 2004 Olympics she followed her coach Shannon Rollason to the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

2005 onwards

Henry won the 100-metre freestyle gold medal at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, clocking 54.18 seconds. That win came on top of her leadoff role in Australia's victorious 4×100-metre freestyle team and second relay gold as a heat swimmer in the 4×100-metre medley. She is a friend and was a training partner of Alice Mills under Shannon Rollason, until after nine years, she announced that she would be switching to the tutelage of John Fowlie. Lenton broke Henry's world record at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

selection trials, setting a new mark of 53.42 seconds. Henry finished with the silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

, finishing behind compatriot Lenton (24.61) in the 50-metre and (53.54) 100-metre freestyle, clocking 53.78 seconds and a personal best in the 50-metre with 24.72 seconds for another silver behind Lenton. Henry swam in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, helping Australia to the gold medal. On 25 March, at the

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. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...

in Melbourne, Henry claimed gold again. Combining with

Shayne Reese Shayne Leanne Reese, OAM (born 15 September 1982) is an Australian medley and freestyle swimmer. She competed in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in which Australia placed fourth. She was a member of the Australi ...

, rookie

Melanie Schlanger Melanie Renée Schlanger, Order of Australia, OAM (born 31 August 1986), also known by her married name Melanie Wright, is an Australian freestyle swimming, freestyle swimmer. Melanie first represented Australia at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimmin ...

and

, Henry anchored the Australian 4×100-metre freestyle relay team in a world championship record time of 3:35.48 seconds, ahead of the United States in 3:35.68 and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 3:36.81. She also won another gold medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay. In November 2007, Henry returned to her hometown of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

to regain form under new coach Drew McGregor and training at Chandler Swim Club. She was unable to qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

because of a pelvic complaint. On 30 September 2009, she announced her retirement from swimming.

Personal life

She married Tim Notting, and they have three children.

References