Tracey Lee Wickham (born 24 November 1962 in

Rosebud, Victoria Rosebud is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Rosebud recorded ...

) is an Australian former middle distance

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 ...

. Wickham was the World Champion for the 400 m and 800 m freestyle in 1978, and won gold in both events at the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games. She is a former world record holder for the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle. Despite her success in the pool, Wickham has battled hardship and personal tragedy throughout her life.

Swimming career

Wickham began swimming at the age of eight at John Rigby's pool in

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 ...

and mastered her technique under the guidance of Peter Diamond. At the age of thirteen, she was selected to be on the Australian team for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games but failed to reach the finals at that meet. In 1977, Wickham's family moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, where she trained for six months with coaching legend Mark Schubert. She returned to Brisbane at the end of 1977 and she came under the guidance of coach Bill Sweetenham at the Commercial Swimming Club. On 8 February 1978, Wickham broke her first world record, the 1500 m freestyle, in a solo swim at the Fortitude Valley Pool in Brisbane, clocking 16:14.93. At the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

, Canada, Wickham won both the 400 m and 800 m

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

. That same year, she set world records in both events, and won both the 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the 1978 Berlin World Championships, setting a world 400 m record of 4.06.28, which stood as the Championship record until 2007. Both world records stood until 1987, long after her retirement. In 1980, Australia decided against an official

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict s ...

of the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. A number of Australian athletes elected to boycott the Games personally. Wickham maintains that she withdrew from the team because of illness, as she was suffering glandular fever at the time, not because of the boycott. The 800 m freestyle was won by fellow Australian

Michelle Ford Michelle Jan Ford (born 15 July 1962) is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres ...

at that meet. Wickham retired at the end of 1979 due to financial problems. The policy of

amateurism An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History Hi ...

was upheld by the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia during this period, meaning Wickham could neither earn money from the sport nor receive any prizes. Wickham returned to swimming in the early 1980s under coach

Laurie Lawrence Laurie Joseph Lawrence (born 14 October 1941) is an Australian swimming coach. He was also an Australia national rugby union team member in 1964. Early life Lawrence was born in the Queensland city of Townsville, where his father, Alan 'Stumpy' ...

. She won gold in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

, where she took the Athletes Oath at the Opening Ceremony. Her gold medal for the 400 m was presented to her by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and Wickham retired from swimming immediately afterwards. Following the birth of her daughter, Wickham dived back into the water in May 1990, again with Lawrence as her coach, that year completing the 7.6 km open water race from Magnetic Island to Townsville, placing first in the female division. She also won the female division of the

Lake Trasimeno Lake Trasimeno ( , also ; it, Lago Trasimeno ; la, Trasumennus; ett, Tarśmina), also referred to as Trasimene ( ) or Thrasimene in English, is a lake in the province of Perugia, in the Umbria region of Italy on the border with Tuscany. Th ...

20 km marathon race. She retired for good following the birth of her son in January 1992.

Personal life

She was educated at the

All Hallows' School , motto_translation = God and Duty , city = Brisbane , state = Queensland , postcode = 4000 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type ...

, in

along with her sisters Julie and Kelly. Wickham married in 1986 and had two children, Daniel and Hannah. She divorced her husband in the mid-1990s. Her daughter, Hannah, died at the age of nineteen from

synovial sarcoma A synovial sarcoma (also known as malignant synovioma) is a rare form of cancer which occurs primarily in the extremities of the arms or legs, often in proximity to joint capsules and tendon sheaths. It is a type of soft-tissue sarcoma. The name " ...

on 2 October 2007. Wickham is an ambassador for Hannah's Chance Foundation, which supports teenage cancer victims.

Honours and awards

On 30 December 1978, Wickham was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. On 10 December 1985, she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the st ...

at Fort Lauderdale in 1992. On 25 October 2000, she was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for outstanding contribution as a competitor in swimming. On 13 June 2005, she was awarded the

Medal of 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 Go ...

for service to Australian swimming and to the development of young swimmers through teaching and coaching roles.

Swimming achievements

* 1976 Montreal Olympic Games **Team member * 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games **400 metres freestyle - gold medal **800 metres freestyle - gold medal **200 metres freestyle - silver medal **4 x 100-metre medley relay (butterfly leg) - silver medal **4 x 100-metre freestyle relay - bronze medal * 1978 Berlin World Championships **400 metres freestyle - gold medal **800 metres freestyle - gold medal * 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games **400 metres freestyle - gold medal **800 metres freestyle - gold medal **200 metres freestyle - silver medal *1990 Magnetic Island to Townsville Swim **First place *1990 Italian Gran Fondo Marathon Lake Swim **First place

Book

* Tracey Wickham's biography ''Treading Water: My Life in And Out of the Pool'' by Peter Meares was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Ger ...

Australia October 2010.

References

External links

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickham, Tracey 1962 births Living people Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Swimmers at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Australian female freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming People educated at All Hallows' School Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian women