Leisel Jones

Leisel Jones

Personal information
Full name	Leisel Marie Jones
Nickname	Diesel
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1985-08-30) August 30, 1985 Katherine, Northern Territory
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Breaststroke
Club	Melbourne Vicentre
Medal record Women's swimming Representing Australia Olympic Games 2004 Athens 4×100 m medley 2008 Beijing 100 m breaststroke 2008 Beijing 4×100 m medley 2000 Sydney 100 m breaststroke 2000 Sydney 4×100 m medley 2004 Athens 200 m breaststroke 2008 Beijing 200 m breaststroke 2004 Athens 100 m breaststroke World Championships (LC) 2001 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley 2005 Montreal 100 m breaststroke 2005 Montreal 200 m breaststroke 2005 Montreal 4×100 m medley 2007 Melbourne 100 m breaststroke 2007 Melbourne 200 m breaststroke 2007 Melbourne 4×100 m medley 2001 Fukuoka 100 m breaststroke 2003 Barcelona 200 m breaststroke 2007 Melbourne 50 m breaststroke 2011 Shanghai 100 m breaststroke 2003 Barcelona 100 m breaststroke 2003 Barcelona 4×100 m medley 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m medley World Championships (SC) 2010 Dubai 100 m breaststroke 2010 Dubai 4×100 m medley 2002 Manchester 100 m breaststroke 2002 Manchester 200 m breaststroke 2002 Manchester 4 × 100 m medley 2006 Melbourne 50 m breaststroke 2006 Melbourne 100 m breaststroke 2006 Melbourne 200 m breaststroke 2006 Melbourne 4 × 100 m medley 2010 Delhi 100 m breaststroke 2010 Delhi 200 m breaststroke 2010 Delhi 4 × 100 m medley 2010 Delhi 50 m breaststroke Pan Pacific Championships 2002 Yokohama 4 × 100 m medley 2002 Yokohama 200 m breaststroke 2010 Irvine 100 m breaststroke 2010 Irvine 200 m breaststroke 2010 Irvine 4×100 m medley 2010 Irvine 50 m breaststroke

Leisel Marie Jones OAM (born 30 August 1985 in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia) is an Australian Olympic gold medalist swimmer. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold medal winning Australian team in the women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Athens Games in 2004 and a gold medalist for 100 meter breaststroke in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

She is noted for employing a classical breaststroke technique, typified by a slow but deeper stroke cycle and also by her slow starts. Along with South African champion Penny Heyns, Jones is highly regarded as one of the greatest breaststroke swimmers ever.

Personal

While at Southern Cross Catholic College, Jones used to train at the Redcliffe club in Scarborough, Queensland, and was coached by Ken Wood. Her training partners included fellow Australian team members, Geoff Huegill and Jessicah Schipper. After her disappointing campaign in Athens, Jones moved to train at the Fortitude Valley Pool in Brisbane, Australia, alongside Libby Lenton, under Swiss-born coach Stephan Widmar at the Commercial Swimming Club. Following the move, Jones began to speak openly about the depression and self-esteem issues that had plagued her following her being thrust into the spotlight at such a young age. This and the successes that followed endeared her to an Australian public that had been critical of her attitude following her failure to capture individual gold in Athens. Some, including swimming legend Dawn Fraser, believed Jones had acted immaturely and ungratefully, particularly in her indifferent displays of emotion during post-race interviews and medal ceremonies.

In 2009, Jones became the new face of the WSPA (Australia & New Zealand) anti-whaling campaign.

Career

Jones was selected for the Australian team at just 14 years of age, qualifying in the 100 m breaststroke by winning the event at the Australian Championships in May 2000 in Sydney, ending the international career of former world champion Samantha Riley.

2000 Olympics

She swam a personal best in the final at the Sydney Olympics to claim an unexpected silver medal behind American Megan Quann. She also combined with Dyana Calub, Petria Thomas and Susie O'Neill in the 4×100 m medley relay to win silver, again behind the Americans. Jones left school aged 15 to concentrate on swimming.

At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and Jones was now one of the established swimmers and expected to win medals, but finished second to China's Luo Xuejuan. It also marked her international debut in the 200 m breaststroke, where she came fourth place (2:25.46s). She also collected a gold in the medley relay alongside Calub, Thomas and Sarah Ryan, the first time that the United States had been beaten at world or Olympic level in this event, excluding the systemically doped East German and Chinese teams.

In 2002, she claimed her first titles on the international arena, claiming the breaststroke double at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Australia also won the medley relay.

In 2003, Jones set an Australian record in the 200 m individual medley earlier in the year, in an experimental event. Later at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain, she started confidently, setting a world record in the semifinals of the 100 m breaststroke (1:06.37s). However, she succumbed to nerves in the final and came third, with Luo again winning the event. She also achieved a silver in the 200 m breaststroke in Barcelona, behind Amanda Beard in (2:24.33s). She collected a bronze in the medley relay.

In the month leading up to the Athens Olympics, Jones set a world record (2:22.96) in the 200 m breaststroke in a meet in Brisbane, Australia. This led to high expectations of an even better performance in Athens, as Jones had not been rested prior to swimming the world record. However, it was reclaimed by Beard at the US Olympic trials only a few days later.

2004 Olympics

In Athens, Jones was again the quickest qualifier of the 100 m breaststroke, after setting an Olympic record (1:06.78) in the semifinals. However, in the final she finished in the bronze position, again behind by Luo Xuejuan. Jones made a poor start off the blocks and was unable to recover. In the 200 m event, she attempted to take an attacking approach, but faded in the last 50 m and was pipped to the wall by Amanda Beard, winning silver. Australia went on the win the medley relay, giving Jones her first Olympic gold.

Jones' world record in the 100 m breaststroke was broken at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Canada by Jessica Hardy of the United States in 1:06.20, again in the semifinal. However, this time the expectations turned to Hardy and Jones turned the tables and beat her to the wall, breaking through for her first win at world or Olympic level. Later in the week, having exorcised her demons, she broke the world record for the 200 m breaststroke (2:21.72s), on 29 July 2005. In the process she won the gold medal, leaving her rivals more than six metres behind. Australia and Jones won the medley relay easily.

For her efforts she was named by Swimming World magazine as the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 2005.

The changes which occurred in 2005 continued to pay off at the Australian Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials in early 2006 where Jones broke her personal best time in the 50 m (30.85) and took 1.18 seconds off her previous world record in the 200 m breaststroke (2.20:54). On Day 5 of the Australian Nationals, Jones also gained a new world record in the 100 m breaststroke final. Jones won the Australian championship in a time of 1:05.71 which lowered the previous mark by 0.49 s.

Jones completed a clean sweep of the breaststroke events (50 m, 100 m and 200 m) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the only time this has been achieved in the breaststroke events in the games' history. In the butterfly events (50m, 100 m and 200m) at the 2002 Manchester Games, Petria Thomas was the first swimmer in Commonwealth Games history to complete a clean sweep. The 50 m events were introduced at the Manchester Games. In the 50 m breaststroke, an event she had only recently begun competing in, she defeated the reigning world champion and world record holder Jade Edmistone. She later won another gold in the 200 m breaststroke and completed the sweep with the gold medal in the 100 m in a world record time of 1:05.09 – an effort that saw her own world record reduced 0.62 s and was declared "Beamonesque" by aquatics journalist Craig Lord, a reference to Bob Beamon's legendary long jump at the Mexico City Olympics. A fourth gold medal in world record time in the 4×100 m medley relay with Sophie Edington, Jessicah Schipper and Libby Lenton rounded off her Commonwealth Games.

In 2007, she competed in the World Championships and won the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke and the 4 × 100 m medley relay, setting a world record in the relay. She also won silver in the 50 m breaststroke. She then left Brisbane and Widmer to move to Melbourne to train under Rohan Taylor, so that she could live with her fiancé Marty Pask, an Australian rules footballer with the Western Bulldogs who was delisted at the end of 2007. Her dissolution of a successful partnership raised eyebrows and many questioned whether putting her personal life ahead of a proven competitive formula would backfire in the pool.

In early 2008, she won the breaststroke double at the 2008 Australian Swimming Championships to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Although missing the World Short Course Championships in Manchester due to the preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics she broke her own world record over 100 m breaststroke (SC) in 1:03,72 at the Telstra Grand Prix in Canberra.

2008 Olympics

Jones won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in 100 breaststroke, touching the line a full body length ahead of her rival. Her time of 1:05.17 was 1.66 s faster than the silver medalist Rebecca Soni. While she was the favorite to win in the 200 breaststroke, she was upset by American Rebecca Soni, who won gold in world record time. Jones took the silver. Leisel also won a gold medal in the 4×100m medley relay, with the Australian team breaking the previous world record by three seconds.

Jones was awarded the Telstra Swimmer Of The Year award as part of the year's international all-star team, in Sydney in October 2008.

At the World Cup meeting at Berlin, Germany, Jones set world records in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke (short course). Jones had a low key year and opted out of the World Championships.

Potential 4th Olympics

Jones has confirmed that she is aiming for the 2012 Olympics in London and competed at the Pan Pacific Championships and the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Jones confirmed her place on these teams by winning the 50, 100, and the 200 m breaststroke at the 2010 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships.

At the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California, Jones collected 3 silver and a bronze. She competed in the 50m breaststroke (bronze) 100m breaststroke (silver), 200m breaststroke (silver), and the 4×100 medley relay (silver) events. In all four of events, she was behind the Americans; in the 50 m she was behind Jessica Hardy and fellow Australian Leiston Pickett and in the 100 and 200 m she was behind Rebecca Soni.

See also

• World record progression 100 metres breaststroke
• World record progression 200 metres breaststroke
• List of world records in swimming
• Commonwealth Games records in swimming
• List of Australian records in swimming

External links

• [1] – Leisel Jones website
• Leisel Jones at World Aquatics
• Leisel Jones at Swimming Australia (archived)