Alice Mary Tait, OAM (born 23 May 1986), née Alice Mary Mills, is an Australian former sprint freestyle, butterfly and individual medley

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who represented Australia at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

winning two relay gold medals and a bronze.

Career

Trained by her coach Shannon Rollason at the Chandler Sports Complex along with her good friend

Jodie Henry Jodie Clare Henry, OAM (born 17 November 1983) is an Australian competitive swimmer, Olympic gold medallist and former world-record holder. Early life and career Henry was born in Brisbane, Queensland. She began swimming competitively at the ...

, Tait was selected to make her international debut at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, at the age of 16, where she collected a gold in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, as well as competing in the finals of the 50 m freestyle and 200 m individual medley. She repeated this at the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Japan. 2003 saw a big improvement in Tait's performance on the international swimming stage, when she received two silver medals at the 2003 World Swimming Championships in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain in the 200 m individual medley and 50 m freestyle, breaking the Commonwealth record in the former and the Australian record in the latter. She also collected a silver and bronze in the 4 × 200 m and 4 × 100 m freestyle relays respectively. 2004 was a somewhat mixed year for Tait. She was beaten into 3rd place at the Australian trials in both the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, meaning that she was forced to watch these events from the stands. However, along with teammates

Libby Lenton Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM (; born 28 January 1985) is a retired Australian swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the shor ...

Petria Thomas Petria Ann Thomas, (born 25 August 1975) is an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist and a winner of 15 national titles. She was born in Lismore, New South Wales, and grew up in the nearby town of Mullumbimby. Career In 1993, at the a ...

, and

, she won gold with a world record time in the women's 4 × 100 meter relay; 3min 35.94s. Later, she performed much slower than her previous best in the 200 m individual medley, being eliminated in the final. She admitted that she had been distracted by the earlier relay triumph. She also picked up a gold by swimming in the heats for the victorious 4 × 100 m medley relay team. Tait started 2005 by relocating to the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

along with Rollason and Henry. She started the year strongly, winning the 50 m and 100 m freestyle at the Australian championships, both in new personal best times, the former in Commonwealth record time. She also qualified in the 50 m butterfly in second place, and came third in the 100 m butterfly( but was not selected as each country is restricted to two entries, despite being ranked third in the world), all in new personal best times. However, she had a form slump at the 2005 World Swimming Championships in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Canada, swimming much slower than at the selection trials, and missing the medals. She collected a gold medal as part of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team. In 2006, Tait qualified and competed at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

. She won bronze in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle behind

and

and in the 50 m butterfly behind

Danni Miatke Danni Miatke (born 29 November 1987) is an Australian swimmer. Biography Born in Darwin, Northern Territory in 1987, Miatke began competitive swimming in 1995. She first represented the Northern Territory in 1998 at the national School Sport ...

and

Jessicah Schipper Jessicah Lee Schipper OAM (born 19 November 1986) is an Australian former competition swimmer. Specialising in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly, she won several gold medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships between 2004 and 20 ...

. She combined with Henry, Lenton and

Shayne Reese Shayne Leanne Reese, OAM (born 15 September 1982) is an Australian medley and freestyle swimmer. She competed in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in which Australia placed fourth. She was a member of the Australi ...

to claim gold in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. In late 2006, Tait missed selection for the

2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...

. She was part of the bronze medal-winning Australian team in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. In the

2005 Australia Day Honours The 2005 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2005 by the Governor General of Australia, Michael Jeffrey. The Austra ...

, Tait was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games". Tait announced her retirement from sports in June 2012.

Personal life

Tait is married to the former Scottish Olympic swimmer

Gregor Tait Gregor Tait (born 20 April 1979) is a Scottish backstroke swimmer, and an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain. He has swum for Great Britain (or Scotland as noted) at the: *Olympics: 2004, 2008 *World Championships: 2003, 2005, 2007 *Commonwealth ...

. Their first child, a boy named Vance Charlie Tait, was born in August 2015. In June 2018, they welcomed a second son, Miller Lee Tait.Alice Tait's official Instagram account
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References

External links

* * * *
Alice Mills
at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games * (2002, 2006, 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Alice 1986 births Living people Olympic swimmers of Australia Australian female butterfly swimmers Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female medley swimmers Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for Australia Universiade bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2007 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Swimmers from Brisbane 21st-century Australian women

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links