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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Sports Management - Australian College of Physical Education: Sydney, NSW, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Going to the beach, spending time with friends. (swimming.org.au, 2015) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He lived near the beach so his parents wanted him to learn how to swim for safety reasons. |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | Australian swimmer Michael Klim. (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010) |
| 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 2013 New South Wales Institute of Sport [NSWIS] Male Athlete of the Year. He also received the award in 2011. (portnews.com.au, 22 Nov 2013) He was named the 2011 Swimmer of the Year by Swimming Australia. He was also named the Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year and the People's Choice Award winner. (portnews.com.au, 05 Dec 2011) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He learned to swim at age three. He took up competitive swimming at age 11. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2010 |
| Competing for | Australia |
| Tournament | Pan Pacific Championships |
| Location | Irvine, CA, USA |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | The Missile, Maggie (swimswam.com, 06 Jul 2018; news.com.au, 28 Feb 2018) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "There is nothing to it but to do it." (Swimming Australia, 16 Jun 2010) |
| Other information | RETIREMENT In June 2019 he announced his retirement from competitive swimming. "At 28 years of age I feel I could have swum at another Olympic Games. I find it increasingly difficult in the past couple of years to maintain the love for the [competitive] sport, when a lot of my time is being spent to get my body right. But with the lofty standards I have held myself to over the years and the high expectations I have, I believe now is the right time to step away from the sport." (smh.com.au, 05 Jun 2019; abc.net.au, 05 Jun 2019) TATTOOS He had an alpha symbol tattooed on his left forearm after returning home from the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. "I got it with my housemate, Joe Carty, just as a reminder that now we are on the other side of those world championships, and life is a little bit easier. It's just a reminder of what it was like having left home at 18 and come down to the big smoke and faced a few adversities in terms of living and trying to juggle [study] and swimming and having a couple of break-ins. It's just to remember life wasn't always so easy." He also has the Olympic rings tattooed on his ribs. (olympics.com.au, 07 Aug 2016; smh.com.au, 13 Mar 2012; theaustralian.com.au, 20 Mar 2012) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Media Professional |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Injuries | He was forced to undergo shoulder surgery in June 2015, ruling him out of competing at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russian Federation. (swimming.org.au, 24 May 2015) He suffered a back injury in August 2014 which hampered his performances and forced him to miss events for the next two months. (swimswam.com, 15 Sep 2014) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Sydney, NSW, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Milestones | At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, he became the first Australian to win the men's 100m freestyle world title. (abc.net.au, 26 Jul 2011; SportsDeskOnline, 04 Jun 2018) |