ADELAIDE , 1 December 2004— Olympic 100 meters freestyle gold medalist Jodie Henry has been named Australia’s Swimmer of the Year, upstaging Ian Thorpe.
Henry picked up three golds in Athens, setting a world record in the 100 freestyle semifinals and anchoring the victorious Australian 4x100 freestyle and 4x100 medley relay teams.
“I honestly couldn’t have predicted it was going to be me,” the 21-year-old Henry said after her award was announced at a ceremony in Melbourne on Monday night.
“I won three gold medals but I had other girls help me get two of them.”
Thorpe retained his 400 freestyle title in Athens and also captured the 200 freestyle gold. He won the Australian swimmer of the year award every year between 1999 and 2003, sharing the honors with 1,500 freestyle world champion Grant Hackett last year.
