Leisel Jones

Infobox Swimmer
swimmername= Leisel Jones


imagesize=
caption =
fullname = Leisel Marie Jones
nicknames =
nationality = flagcountry|AUS
strokes = Breaststroke
club = Melbourne Vicentre
collegeteam =
birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1985|8|30
birthplace = Katherine, Northern Territory
deathdate =
deathplace =
height = 173 cm
weight = 66 kg
medaltemplates=

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 x 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. Fact|date=August 2008 Along with South African champion, Penny Heyns, Jones is highly regarded as one of the greatest breaststroke swimmers ever.

wimming career

Jones was selected for the Australian team at just 14 years of age, qualifying in the 100 m breaststroke at the Australian Championships in May 2000 in Sydney, and was partially responsible for ending the international career of former breaststroke champion Samantha Riley. She swam a personal best in the final at the Olympics to claim a somewhat unexpected silver medal behind American swimmer Megan Quann. She also combined with Dyana Calub, Petria Thomas and Susie O'Neill in the 4x100 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 was expected to do well, despite still being two months shy of her sixteenth birthday. However, she succumbed under the pressure, finishing 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 such a level of competition in this event.

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

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).

In the month leading up to the Athens Olympics, Jones set a world record (2:22.96) 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.

In Athens, Jones was again the quickest qualifier of the 100 m breaststroke, after setting an Olympic record (1:06.78) in the semifinals. Again, she succumbed to nerves in the final, making a poor turn, subsequently panicking and finished in the bronze position, again won by Luo. 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 Beard, winning silver.

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 Hardy to the wall, breaking through for her first win at world or Olympic level. Later in the week, having exorcised her demons, she demolished 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 6 metres behind.

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

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 tender 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. This shift in attitude appeared to reflect a more contented Jones, and helped to make her a darling of both the public and the media.

The changes which occurred in 2005 continued to pay off at the Australian Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials where Jones broke her personal best time in the 50 m (30.85) and slashed 1.18 seconds from her previous world record in the 200 m breaststroke (2.20:54). She is now almost 2 seconds clear of the world's second fastest swimmer in the events history, Amanda Beard. On Day 5 of the Australian Nationals, Leisel re-wrote the history books with 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. This qualified her to compete for Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Jones completed a clean sweep of the breaststroke events (50m, 100m and 200m) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the only time this has been achieved in the breaststroke events in the history of the Games. 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 upset reigning world champion and world record holder Jade Edmistone. She later proceeded to collect 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 longjump at the Mexico City Olympics. A fourth gold medal in world record time in the 4x100 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.

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 100m breaststroke (SC) in 1:03,72 at the Telstra Grand Prix in Canberra.

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. She also earned a silver medal at the Beijing games in the 200m Breaststroke, finishing second to Soni.Leisel also won a gold medal in the 4x100m medley relay, with the Australian team thrashing the previous world record.

ee also

* World record progression 100 metres breaststroke
* World record progression 200 metres breaststroke

External links

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References

External links

* [http://www.olympics.com.au/Sports/SportsSwimming/tabid/238/Default.aspx?link=238&]