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| Human Interest | |
|---|---|
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Going to the beach, Pilates, reading and spending time with her dogs. (Instagram profile, 15 Feb 2021; swimming.org.au, 10 Apr 2018) |
| Injuries | She withdrew from the Australian team for the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain due to a shoulder injury that affected her for the next two years. (wwos.ninemsn.com.au, 03 May 2013; yahoo.com, 24 Jan 2015) She had a bulging disc in her neck in November 2013. (smh.com.au, 05 Dec 2013) She suffered from a hip injury in January 2013. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 03 Jan 2013) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | She was initially inspired by her brother. "He was my idol growing up and I wanted to be as fast as him." After childhood surgery on her hip she began regular swimming to help her recovery. |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | Australian swimmer Grant Hackett. (commonwealthgames.com.au, 16 Aug 2016) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | She took up swimming at age five, |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | BB (olympicchannel.com, 01 Jan 2012) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "They say swimming is an individual sport, but it's not for me and the people I share this with." (thewest.com.au, 12 Apr 2018) |
| Other information | CHILDHOOD SURGERY She was initially diagnosed with cancer in her right hip joint at age 11 and underwent surgery, which subsequently revealed she had osteomyelitis, a serious bone infection, rather than cancer. She was told she would never run again and gave up netball for swimming. "Swimming started as a therapy. I couldn't do anything else so I was almost forced into it. I credit that with helping me learn a lot of lessons in life. It teaches you about winning and losing. Sometimes you can lose everything but you can come back from that." (funkita.com, 28 Jun 2016; sbs.com.au, 19 Apr 2016) CONSIDERING QUITTING During her shoulder injury break from swimming from 2013 to 2015 she lost her national funding and said she considered retiring from the sport and setting up as a Pilates teacher, but received support from former Australian swimmer and business strategist Deane Pieters. "I didn't want to retire. I had so much unfinished business from 2012. I didn't get the results I wanted. There was never a point where I said, 'This will be it'. There were definitely times where I said, 'I don't know if I could do this'. I had a few setbacks, and got dropped out of funding. So it was very hard financially for me and my family to keep me going at such a level. But I'm grateful for Deane, he came on board and he sat me down and said, 'Look, I'm behind you. Let's do it'. And got me some financial support." (sbs.com.au, 20 Apr 2016; yahoo.com, 24 Jan 2015) |
| Awards and honours | In 2018 she won the award for best performance at the Australian championships at the Swimming WA Swimmer of the Year Awards. (hancockprospecting.com.au, 26 May 2018) She was named 2012 Short Course Swimmer of the Year by Swimming Australia. (Swimming Australia, 24 Nov 2012) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
| Residence | Perth, WA, AUS |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Will Scott [personal], AUS |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | UWA West Coast: Perth, WA, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs | She paints her nails red before racing. (commonwealthgames.com.au, 16 Aug 2016) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after coming back to the sport following a shoulder injury. (swimming.org.au, 10 Apr 2018) |
| Most influential person in career | Her parents and her brother. (commonwealthgames.com.au, 16 Aug 2016) |