Alicia's Story
Alicia Coutts claimed her first Olympic team position in style, with a personal best time in the 200 IM at the 2008 Olympic Selection Trials. Coutts went on to make the final at the Beijing Olympic Games, finishing a fantastic fifth. The promising young Queenslander then exploded onto the international swimming scene with a phenomenal five gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Coutts became the star of Australia’s swim team at the London 2012 Games when she took home five medals. Kicking off the Games in style, Coutts won gold in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay alongside Brittany Elmslie, Cate Campbell and Melanie Schlanger on the opening night of competition.
A night later she claimed bronze in the 100m butterfly, 0.96 seconds behind Dana Vollmer of the USA who set a new world record in the process. Coutts won her second individual medal of the Games in the 200m individual medley when she was unable to hold off Chinese sensation Ye Shiwen in the final 20 metres. Ye set a new Olympic record and Coutts had a medal of every colour.
The Queenslander who trained at the AIS in Canberra added two more silver to her haul in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay and the 4 x 100m individual medley relay as Australia finished second behind the USA in both events.
Coutts became only the third Australian Olympian after Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe to win five medals in a single Olympic Games.
At her third Olympics in Rio, Coutts finished just outside the medals with a fifth place in the 200m individual medley final clocking 2:10.88.
