Alicia Jayne Coutts, (born 14 September 1987) is an Australian competitive medley, butterfly and freestyle swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

(

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

). She was a Swimming Australia National Training Centre scholarship holder and was coached by John Fowlie. Her haul of five medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics matches fellow Australians

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

and

Shane Gould Shane Elizabeth Gould (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 2018, she won the fifth season of ''Australian Survivor,'' becom ...

in one single Olympics, and trails only

Emma McKeon Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time world record holder, one current and three former, in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the ...

’s seven.

Early years

Coutts was born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. She attended St Matthews Primary School and Chisholm Catholic College.

Career

2008 Olympics

Coutts competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics where she ended up fifth in the 200-metre individual medley.

2010 Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs

At the Pan Pacs, she took two relay silver medals and bronze in the 100 m butterfly. At the

, she won the 100-metre butterfly, 100-metre freestyle, 200-metre individual medley, as well as contributing to the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and 4×100-metre medley relay, bringing her total haul to 5 gold medals. She carried the Australian flag at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.Clark, Laine; Cratchley, Drew (15 October 2010)
Aussies Party as Games end
, ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved 16 October 2010. She was named the Telstra Australian Swimmer of the Year for 2010. At the 2011 Australian Championships which doubled as the World Championship Trials, seeking to pick up her first national title. On night two, she doubled up, taking the 100-metre butterfly by a clear margin, as well as the 200-metre individual medley, beating Olympic champion Stephanie Rice by approximately an arm's length. She took 6th place in the 200-metre freestyle. On night six, she took gold in the 100-metre freestyle, winning by a clear margin over Yolane Kukla. In June, she took 3 gold at the Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum Series, downing the meet record of the 100-metre butterfly as well as the 200-metre individual medley in a personal best time.

2011 World championships and Olympic Trials

At the 2011 World Championships on night two, Coutts took silver medals in the 100-metre butterfly and 200-metre individual medley. She swam the butterfly leg of the 4×100-metre medley relay, capturing a bronze medal. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, she won the 100-metre butterfly holding off Jessicah Schipper down the stretch and stopping

Libby Trickett 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 s ...

's attempt to defend her Olympic title in that event. She took silver in the 200-metre medley, booking another individual spot. She later placed in the top 6 in the 100-metre freestyle, gaining a spot on the 4×100-metre freestyle relay. On the final night she collected silver in the 4×100-metre medley relay.

2012 Olympics

On night one, she collected gold in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay with

Cate Campbell Cate Natalie Campbell, (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimmer, and a current multiple world record holder, who won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold a ...

, Brittany Elmslie and Melanie Schlanger setting a new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

in the process. On night two, she collected a bronze in the 100-metre butterfly, she became the 8th fastest of all time. Night 4 she got a silver in the 200-metre individual medley becoming the 5th fastest of all time. On night 5, she anchored the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team to silver, recording a 200-metre split time of 1:56.12, 1.6 seconds quicker than her official personal best. On the final night, she collected a silver in the 4×100-metre medley relay, bringing her medal total to 5 in a single Olympic Games. At the 2013 Australian Championships (which doubled as the qualifiers for 2013 World Aquatics Championships), Coutts won gold the 50 and 100-metre butterfly and the 200-metre individual medley, silver in the 50-metre backstroke and bronze in the 50-metre breastroke and 100-metre freestyle.

2013 World Championships

At the World Championships, she collected silver medals in the 100-metre butterfly, 200-metre medley, 4x100-metre freestyle relay, 4×200-metre freestyle relay, 4×100-metre medley relay.

2016 Olympics

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Coutts finished fifth in the final of the 200 m individual medley. In October 2016, she announced her retirement.

Career best times

Coutts holds one Olympic record in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, the Commonwealth records in the short-course 100-metre butterfly, 100-metre and 200-metre individual medley, and two

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

records and is the fastest Australian in textile in the 200-metre individual medley and 100-metre butterfly.

Recognition

In 2012, she won the Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year Award with sailor Tom Slingsby.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coutts, Alicia 1987 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport swimmers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian female butterfly swimmers Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female medley swimmers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic swimmers for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportswomen from Queensland Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers from Brisbane Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming People from Redland City Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Australian women