Karen Anne Phillips (born 4 May 1966), known after marriage as Karen Anne Higgison, was an Australian butterfly and individual medley swimmer of the 1980s, who won the silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles. Raised in

Nowra, New South Wales Nowra is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated popula ...

, Phillips was selected to represent Australia in the 200-metre butterfly and 400-metre individual medley, but was not expected to do well, barely scraping into the final of the 200-metre butterfly, and narrowly missing the final of the 400-metre individual medley. Although she was left far behind by the United States'

Mary T. Meagher Mary Terstegge Meagher Plant (born October 27, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder. In 1981 she bettered her own existing world records in the 100-meter butterfly (57.93) and 200-meter butt ...

, she swam a personal best of 2 minutes 10.56 seconds to claim the silver medal, although Meagher was 7 metres ahead. Two years later at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh, Scotland, Phillips enjoyed more success, winning the silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly and bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metre medley relay. She was the inaugural winner of 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 ...

Athlete of the Year in 1983–84.Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year Past Winners

References

Bibliography

External links

Profile
1966 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female medley swimmers Sportswomen from New South Wales Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia People from Nowra Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming 20th-century Australian women Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games {{Australia-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References

Bibliography

External links