Alicia Jayne Coutts, (born 14 September 1987) is an Australian competitive medley, butterfly and freestyle

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 ...

. She represented Australia at the

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

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

(

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

). She was a Swimming Australia National Training Centre scholarship holder and was coached by John Fowlie. Her haul of five medals at the

matches fellow Australians

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

and

Shane Gould Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals. In 2 ...

in one single Olympics, and trails only

Emma McKeon Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is a retired Australian competitive swimmer. She is an eight-time world record holder, three current and five former, in relays. Her total career haul of 14 Olympic medals following the 2024 Olympic Gam ...

’s seven.

Early years

Coutts was born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. She attended St Matthews Primary School and Chisholm Catholic College.

Career

2008 Olympics

Coutts competed at the

where she ended up fifth in the 200-metre individual medley.

2010 Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs

At the Pan Pacs, she took two relay silver medals and bronze in the 100 m butterfly. At the

, she won the 100-metre butterfly, 100-metre freestyle, 200-metre individual medley, as well as contributing to the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and 4×100-metre medley relay, bringing her total haul to 5 gold medals. She carried the Australian flag at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.Clark, Laine; Cratchley, Drew (15 October 2010)
Aussies Party as Games end
, ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved 16 October 2010. She was named the Telstra Australian Swimmer of the Year for 2010. At the 2011 Australian Championships which doubled as the World Championship Trials, seeking to pick up her first national title. On night two, she doubled up, taking the 100-metre butterfly by a clear margin, as well as the 200-metre individual medley, beating Olympic champion

Stephanie Rice Stephanie Louise Rice, OAM (born 17 June 1988) is an Australian former competitive swimmer. She won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2009. On 9 April 2 ...

by approximately an arm's length. She took 6th place in the 200-metre freestyle. On night six, she took gold in the 100-metre freestyle, winning by a clear margin over

Yolane Kukla Yolane Nicole Kukla (born 29 September 1995) is an Australian butterfly and freestyle swimmer. Career At the 2010 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney at just 14, Kukla earned selection for the Commonwealth Games team for Delhi ...

. In June, she took 3 gold at the Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum Series, downing the meet record of the 100-metre butterfly as well as the 200-metre individual medley in a personal best time.

2011 World championships and Olympic Trials

At the 2011 World Championships on night two, Coutts took silver medals in the 100-metre butterfly and 200-metre individual medley. She swam the butterfly leg of the 4×100-metre medley relay, capturing a bronze medal. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, she won the 100-metre butterfly holding off

Jessicah Schipper Jessicah Lee Schipper (born 19 November 1986) is an Australian former competition swimmer and former world record holder for 200 metres butterfly. Specialising in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly, she won several gold medals at the Olympic G ...

down the stretch and stopping

Libby Trickett Lisbeth Constance Trickett, (; born 28 January 1985) is an Australian retired competitive swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004, 2008, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the short-course (25m) 100-metre fr ...

's attempt to defend her Olympic title in that event. She took silver in the 200-metre medley, booking another individual spot. She later placed in the top 6 in the 100-metre freestyle, gaining a spot on the 4×100-metre freestyle relay. On the final night she collected silver in the 4×100-metre medley relay.

2012 Olympics

On night one, she collected gold in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay with

Cate Campbell Cate Natalie Campbell, (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian former competitive swimmer. She is the current world record holder in the short course 100 m freestyle. She is also a former world record holder in the long course 1 ...

Brittany Elmslie Brittany Joyce Elmslie, (born 19 June 1994) is a former Australian competitive swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming, and won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at both Games. Personal ...

and

Melanie Schlanger Melanie Renée Schlanger, OAM (born 31 August 1986), also known by her married name Melanie Wright, is an Australian freestyle swimmer. Melanie first represented Australia at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and her career spanned ...

setting a new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

in the process. On night two, she collected a bronze in the 100-metre butterfly, she became the 8th fastest of all time. Night 4 she got a silver in the 200-metre individual medley becoming the 5th fastest of all time. On night 5, she anchored the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team to silver, recording a 200-metre split time of 1:56.12, 1.6 seconds quicker than her official personal best. On the final night, she collected a silver in the 4×100-metre medley relay, bringing her medal total to 5 in a single Olympic Games. At the 2013 Australian Championships (which doubled as the qualifiers for

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Coutts finished fifth in the final of the 200 m individual medley. In October 2016, she announced her retirement.

Career best times

Coutts holds one Olympic record in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, the Commonwealth records in the short-course 100-metre butterfly, 100-metre and 200-metre individual medley, and two

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

records and is the fastest Australian in textile in the 200-metre individual medley and 100-metre butterfly.

Recognition

In 2012, she won 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 ...

Athlete of the Year Award with sailor

Tom Slingsby Tom Slingsby (born 5 September 1984) is an Australian competitive sailor. Slingsby's first successes came sailing Laser dinghy, Laser dinghies, where he won three consecutive world championships and the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Slingsby was t ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coutts, Alicia 1987 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Australian female butterfly swimmers Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female medley swimmers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic swimmers for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportswomen from Queensland Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers from Brisbane Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming People from Redland City Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Australian sportswomen