Human Interest |
Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
Melbourne Vicentre: Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
Name of coach |
Ian Pope |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Customer Service |
General Interest |
Nicknames |
Riekes. (Threats to the US Swim Team, 28 Apr 2004) |
Other information |
GROWING PAINS Made her Olympic debut at 18, in 2004 in the 100m backstroke, but then things went pear-shaped. She developed a hip injury and failed to make the Australian team for the next two years. "I was burnt out, I hated training and I put a lot of pressure on myself," she recalled. "I thought I was running out of time because there were Libby [Trickett] and Alice [Mills] doing all these great things. Alice had broken into the team at 15 and she was tiny at that time and I was very used to beating her, and I used to smash Libby as well. "I had all of my eggs in one basket, being a swimmer, and I didn't have any balance in my life." The balance was also out in her body. She was a natural late developer. She went through an enormous growth spurt in her mid-teens - "I went about three years growing 11cm to 12cm a year." (The Australian, 21 Mar 2009)
OLYMPIC BERTH In qualifying for her first Olympic games in 2004, she broke the Australian 17-18 years 100m backstroke with a personal best, in a stroke she had only been concentrating on for less than 12 months. (Australian Swimming, 28 Apr 2004)
THE CATWALK She was scouted by a modelling agency when she was 15 years old. (The Sunday Mail, Queensland, 28 Apr 2004) |
Hobbies |
Enjoys watching crime shows, Medium, Futarama and The Simpons. (swimmingaustralia.com.au, 14 Jul 2010) |
Sport Specific Information |
Coach from what year? |
2006 |
Further Personal Information |
Languages |
English |
Sport Specific Information |
Coach from which country? |
Australia |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
International Studies |
General Interest |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Setting her first world record - in the 50m butterfly at the 2008 Short Course World Cup in Berlin, Germany. (Swimming Australia, 14 Jul 2010) |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
She realised that synchronised swimming was not for her, so switched to swimming. |
General Interest |
Most influential person in career |
Her family. (swimmingaustralia.com.au, 14 Jul 2010) |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She started swimming at age nine. |
International Debut |
Year |
2004 |
Competing for |
Australia |
Tournament |
Olympic Games |
Location |
Athens |
General Interest |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"First work smart, then work hard, then work long." (Swimming Australia, 14 Jul 2010) |