Nicole Dawn Livingstone,
OAM (born 24 June 1971) is an Australian former competitive
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 ...
. Since retiring from swimming Livingstone has had careers as a television sports commentator and media presenter and as a sports administrator. She was known for a period as Nicole Stevenson, when she was married to Australian cyclist
Clayton Stevenson.
Early life
Livingstone grew up in Melbourne and started swimming at 9. She attended
Parkdale Secondary College
(I undertake and I achieve)
, established = 1964
, type = Public, co-ed, day school
, principal = David Russell
, city = Mordialloc
, state = Victoria
, ...
.
Her mother worked at
Metropolitan Golf Club
The Metropolitan Golf Club is one of the renowned sandbelt courses of Melbourne and is widely recognised as one of the finest championship courses in Australia. It is located in Oakleigh South, in the city's south-eastern suburbs, approximately ...
and her father at
Carlton & United Breweries
Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, Pu ...
.
She had an older brother, Gary and older sister, Karen.
Swimming career
Livingstone competed for Australia in three summer Olympics - 1988, 1992, and 1996 - winning both individual and team medals. She was an
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 ...
scholarship holder.
She held the Australian record for the 200-metre
backstroke
Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...
, with at time of 2:10.20, set on 31 July 1992 at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain for 16 years.
Meagen Nay broke the Australian record twice at the 2008 Australian Olympic Trials. She is the only Australian swimmer to have competed in six successive
Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.[Bill Nelson
Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Flo ...](_blank)
at
Melbourne Vicentre
Melbourne Vicentre is a swimming club based at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC), Melbourne, Australia. Its head coach is 1992 Olympian Craig Jackson, supported by Kenrick Monk, Brad Harris and others. Prior to his resignation in ...
and
Gennadi Touretski.
Notable races
*
1991 World Aquatics Championships (
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
), 4x100
medley relay, 2nd place Australia (with Linley Frame, Susie O'Neill, Karen Van Wirdum)
* 1992, 200 m backstroke, set world short course record, Melbourne.
*
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
, 200 m backstroke, Bronze medal.
*
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, Bronze medal (with Julia Greville, Emma Johnson, Susan O'Neill)
* 1996 Summer Olympics, 4 × 100 m medley relay, Silver medal (with Samantha Riley, Susan O'Neill, Sarah Ryan)
Media career
Upon retiring from swimming following the 1996 Olympics, Livingstone began commentating on the surf lifesaving and swimming on the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
.
While at Nine she also had the role of host of ''
Nine's Wide World of Sport
''Nine's Wide World of Sports'' is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this b ...
, Sports Saturday and Any Given Sunday'' with
Mick Molloy
Michael Molloy (born 11 July 1966) is an Australian comedian, writer, producer, actor and television and radio presenter who has been active in radio, television, stand-up and film. He currently hosts '' The Front Bar'' on the Seven Network.
...
in 2006.
When the swimming coverage moved to
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
in 2009, Livingstone moved stations.
In 2017 Livingstone co-hosted
Sideliners with
Tegan Higginbotham
Tegan Marie Higginbotham (born 25 March 1988) is an Australian comedian, writer and actress. Higginbotham contributes regularly as a sports columnist for ''The Age'' and writes a blog.
Personal life
Higginbotham was born in Dandenong, a suburb ...
on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
which was looking to put a female lens on sport.
Livingstone has also been a sports presenter on ''
Nine News PM Edition'' and a fill in presenter on ''
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
's
Sports Tonight.''
Since her retirement, Livingstone has travelled to all six Summer Olympics and at the Commonwealth Games as a commentator for the swimming coverage.
Nicole has worked for
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
in 2021 and 2022 commentating on the Australian Swimming Championships.
She has also been a presenter for
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
station
SEN 1116
1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the st ...
and appeared on a number of programs including
The Project and
Q+A.
Business and administrative roles
Sporting roles
Livingstone has worked on multiple boards for various sporting bodiesLivingstone is active in promoting drug-free sports in Australia and is involved in the Australian Olympic Committee's "Live Clean, Play Clean" anti-doping education program. She was also a board member of the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA), whose mission is to combat drug use in sports.
Livingstone was elected to the board of the
Australian Olympic Committee
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
in 2013.
In 2017 she backed the campaign for
Danni Roche to take over as the head of the , and ran in the elections for the executive. While Roche's campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, Livingstone was the only member of the rival ticket to be elected.
Livingstone sits on the Board of
Swimming Australia and has been the Chief Executive of the
Melbourne Vicentre Swimming Club since July 2012 until the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
.
Livingstone was announced as the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
's head of women's football on 16 November 2017.
At this time she resigned her post on the executive of the AOC. She is responsible for managing the
AFL Women's
AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...
competition.
In addition to these roles, she has also sat on the board of the Victorian Olympic Council.
Other roles
At the time of her appointment to the board of Swimming Australia, Livingstone was also a member of the VicHealth and State Sports Centre Trust boards.
Following her mother's death from
ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...
, Livingstone started Ovarian Cancer Australia and is currently the patron of the organisation.
Personal life
Livingstone was married to cyclist
Clayton Stevenson, and is currently married to cinematographer Marty Smith.
She has three children, twins Ella and Joshua in 2002, and a second son, Robinson in 2007.
Her mother died from ovarian cancer, and both Stevenson and her sister have both tested positive for the
BRCA2
''BRCA2'' and BRCA2 () are a human gene and its protein product, respectively. The official symbol (BRCA2, italic for the gene, nonitalic for the protein) and the official name (originally breast cancer 2; currently BRCA2, DNA repair associated) ...
gene. They have both had surgery to remove their ovaries.
Her father died of
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...
in 2014.
Honours
Livingstone was awarded the
Order of Australia Medal
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 ...
in 1997 for service to swimming as a representative at state, national and international levels.
A Sydney
RiverCat ferry was named after Livingstone in 1995.
She was a finalist for Veuve Clicquot BOLD Woman award in 2021.
See also
*
List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
This is the complete list of women's Olympic medalists in swimming.
Current program
50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
100 metre backstroke
2 ...
*
List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (women)
This is a list of women's Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming from 1930 to 2022.
Current program
50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
50 metre backstroke
100 metre ...
References
External links
* Australian Institute of Sports
Swimming* Australian Sports Drug Agency
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingstone, Nicole
1971 births
Living people
Olympic swimmers of Australia
Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Swimming commentators
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia
Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia)
Olympic silver medalists for Australia
Olympic bronze medalists for Australia
Olympic bronze medalists in swimming
Australian female backstroke swimmers
Australian female freestyle swimmers
Australian Institute of Sport swimmers
Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
Swimmers from Melbourne
World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists in swimming
Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
Australian sports executives and administrators
VFL/AFL administrators