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| Human Interest | |
|---|---|
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Business Management, Science - Monash University: Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Sitting on the beach and watching the waves, movies, surfing. (Swimming Australia, 15 Jul 2010) |
| Injuries | He underwent an appendectomy in April 2003. (Swimming Australia, 08 Apr 2003) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Breaking the world record and winning gold in the 100m breaststroke at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy. (olympics.com.au, 25 Mar 2012) |
| Famous relatives | His older brother, Nathan Rickard, also represented Australia in swimming and was a national record holder in the 50m freestyle. (Swimming Australia, 08 Dec 2004) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | "Because my brother started to swim and I thought it was fun too." |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | His older brother Nathan. (VIS, 01 Jun 2007; swimming.org.au, 12 Nov 2011) |
| Hero / Idol | Swimmers Alexander Popov, Mike Barrowman and Alexander Dale Oen, and Australian rugby league player Darren Lockyer. (AIS, 01 May 2007; eswimmer.swimming.org.au, October 2006; swimming.org.au, 12 Nov 2011) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He began swimming at age eight. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2002 |
| Competing for | Australia |
| Tournament | World Short Course Championships |
| Location | Moscow |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | Rix (Swimming Australia, 15 Jul 2010) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." (Swimming Australia, 15 Jul 2010) |
| Other information | RETIREMENT After the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, he announced he was leaving the sport. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 05 Aug 2013) CHANGE OF COACH After spending 15 years under the guidance of Vince Raleigh, he returned to Queensland in 2009 to train under Glenn Baker. (olympics.com.au, 25 Mar 2012) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Wife Kata Mercer |
General Interest | |
| Awards and honours | He was inducted into the Australian Path of Champions in 2014. The Path of Champions recognises the achievements of Australia’s top athletes. (swimswam.com, 21 Oct 2014) He was named joint Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year with triathlete Emma Moffat in 2009. (ausport.gov.au, 03 Oct 2014) |