ABOUT TRACEY

in the pool

Tracey Wickham MBE OAM (born November 24, 1962) is an Australian former middle distance swimmer, who, at 13 years of age, was Australia’s youngest swimmer to be represented at the Montreal Olympic Games. She went on to win both the 400m and 800m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in Canada and also won the same events 3 weeks later at the World Championships in Berlin in 1978 – earning her the title of ‘lethal wepon’.

In that 12 month period Tracey had smashed five world records. These records were in the 400m, and twice inthe 800m and 1500m freestyle. The world records in the 400m and 800m were held for nearly a decade - the longest standing world records by any male or female at the time. Tracey’s times swum over 30 years ago still remain competitive to this day and would win an Olympic medal if swum in our current era.

At the 1982 Commonwealth Games Tracey once again won gold in the 400m and 800m freestyle along with the oath on behalf of the athletes at the Opening Ceremony. After being presented with her last gold medal by Queen Elizabeth for the 400m freestyle, Tracey announced her official retirement.

out of the pool

Tracey’s achievements were not confined to the pool. In 1978 Tracey became a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to sport; in 1992 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Texas and the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2000 she was also awarded the Australian Sports Medal for outstanding contribution as a competitor in swimming and in 2005 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to children throughout country regions of Australia for the development of young swimmers through her teaching and coaching roles.

In September 2010 Tracey published her memoir, Treading Water, co-written with sports journalist Peter Meares which invites readers on a heartfelt journey as she deals with her life before, during and after her amazing swimming career, single parenthood and the painful loss of her daughter Hannah in 2007 who died of synovial sarcoma (a rare and aggressive form of cancer) at aged 19 after a three-year battle with the disease. Tracey’s extraordinary life contains all the elements of a wonderful, inspiring story of motivation, dedcation and resilience, which people of all ages can relate to.