Stephanie Louise Rice OAM was born on 17th June 1988. She is an Australian swimmer. She won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26th January 2009. On 9 April 2014, she confirmed her retirement.
Rice was the gold medalist in the 200 meters individual medley at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia where she defeated Olympians Brooke Hanson and Lara Carroll to claim the gold medal in the event in a time of 2:12.90, a personal best by 1.19 sec. She also won the 400m individual medley.
At the 2007 Melbourne World Championships she won a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley in a time of 2 minutes 11.42 seconds, breaking the previous Australian record by a second. American Katie Hoff won the gold in 2:10.13, with Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe in second place. Rice once again placed third, earning her second bronze medal in the 400m individual medley final. In a new personal best time Rice finished in 4:41.19, taking 0.54 sec off her previous best.
Rice continued her strong performance, setting a new personal best time in the 400m individual medley at an Italian meet in June 2007. Rice went a 4:40.79, edging closer to the elusive 4:40 barrier in the event. At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice smashed her personal best time in the 400m individual medley and finally cracked the 4:40 barrier. In placing second to Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry, Rice set a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18, a personal best by 3.61 sec.
At the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, Rice broke the world record in the 400 m individual medley. Rice stopped the clock at 4 minutes 31.46 seconds, 1.43 seconds under American Katie Hoff’s mark of 4:32.89. On 29 June 2008, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Hoff regained the world record from Rice with a time of 4:31.12. Rice claimed her second world record of the meet, when she broke the 200 m individual medley world record, clocking 2 minutes 8.92 seconds to slash almost a full second off the previous record held by China’s Wu Yanyan.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, Rice received her first-ever Olympic medal, Australia’s first gold medal of the games and its 400th summer Olympic medal, winning the 400m individual medley in a time of 4 minutes 29.45 seconds. In the process she reclaimed the world record from Hoff bettering the mark by 1.67 seconds, thus becoming the first woman to break the 4:30 in the event, (Kirsty Coventry also went under 4:30 in taking the silver).
Rice won bronze in the 200 m and 400 m individual medleys. In the 200 m final, she recorded a time of 2:11.42, a second below the previous Australian record, behind American Katie Hoff in 2:10.13, and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who claimed second place. In the 400 m final, Rice recorded a new personal best time of 4:41.19, shaving 0.54 sec off her previous best.
Rice set a new personal best time of 4:40.79 in the 400 m individual medley at an Italian meet in June 2007 edging closer to the 4:40 barrier in the event.
At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice won silver behind Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry in the 400 m individual medley. In doing so, she smashed her personal best time by 3.61 seconds, cracking the 4:40 barrier and setting a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18.
At the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, Rice broke the world record in both the 400 m and 200 m individual medleys. In the 400 m, she clocked 4:31.46, 1.43 seconds below American Katie Hoff’s mark of 4:32.89. (Hoff retook the world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials on 29 June 2008, with a time of 4:31.12). In the 200 m, she clocked 2:08.92 seconds, taking almost a second off the previous record held by China’s Wu Yanyan.
In Beijing, Rice won three gold medals (each in world record time) in the 200 m and 400 m individual medleys and in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay. In winning the 400m individual medley, Rice won her first Olympic medal, Australia’s first gold medal of the games and their 400th Summer Olympic medal. Recording a time of 4:29.45, she reclaimed the world record from Hoff, bettering the mark by 1.67 seconds, and became the first woman to break the 4:30 mark in the event. (Kirsty Coventry also went under 4:30 in taking the silver).
Her second gold medal of the games came on 13 August in the 200 m individual medley with a new world record time of 2:08.45. Rice prevailed after being neck and neck with Coventry throughout the last 50 m, who once again followed Rice to beat the old world record. On 14 August she won her third gold medal as part of the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay team. She led off the team and Australia was in second place at the end of her leg.
Rice began the meet with a solid performance in the 200m IM. Despite losing her world record, she sliced 1.42s off her personal best time while capturing a silver medal.
Experimenting with the 200 freestyle did not end well as she failed to make the final. With the absence of Linda Mackenzie, Kylie Palmer and Meagan Nay, the team was never in medal contention, finishing 5th. Rice retained her 400 IM record however finished with a bronze in the final. She was awarded a silver medal for her contributions in the medley relay heats.
Awards won by Stephanie Rice
- World Swimmer of the Year 2008
- Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year 2008
- Australian Swimmer of the Year 2008
- Medal of the Order of Australia on 26th January 2009
- Won season 3 of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia 2013
Swimming World Records held
- Women’s 200 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) 25 March 2008 – 26 July 2009
- Women’s 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) 22 March 2008 – 29 June 2008
- Women’s 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) 10 August 2008 – 28 July 2012
Olympic and Commonwealth Championship won by Stephanie Rice
- Olympic Champions in Women’s 200 m Individual Medley 2008
- Olympic Champions in Women’s 400 m Individual Medley 2008
- Olympic Champions in Women’s 4×200 m Freestyle Relay 2008
- Commonwealth Champions in Women’s 200 m Individual Medley 2006
- Commonwealth Champions in Women’s 400 m Individual Medley 2006
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