Jodie Henry

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Competitor for Australia
Olympic medal record
Women’s swimming
Gold	2004 Athens	100 m freestyle
Gold	2004 Athens	4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold	2004 Athens	4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Commonwealth Games medal record
Women’s swimming
Gold	2002 Manchester	100 m freestyle
Gold	2002 Manchester	4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Gold	2002 Manchester	4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold	2006 Melbourne	4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Silver	2002 Manchester	50 m freestyle
Silver	2006 Melbourne	50 m freestyle
Silver	2006 Melbourne	100 m freestyle
World Championships
Women’s swimming
Gold	2007 Melbourne	4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Silver	2003 Barcelona	100 m freestyle
Bronze	2003 Barcelona	4 x 100 m medley relay
Bronze	2003 Barcelona	4 x 100 m freestyle relay

Jodie Clare Henry OAM (born 17 November 1983), Australian swimmer, is a triple Olympic gold medallist, four time gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games, world champion in the 100 m freestyle and multi women's world record holder for the 100 metre freestyle.

With team mate Libby Lenton, a member of the world record breaking and gold medallist 4x100 m freestyle & the 4x100 m medley teams for Australia in the new mellenium.

Henry was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and grew up swimming, but began swimming competitively at the relatively late age of 14.

Henry swam in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh later that year winning five gold medals.

In 2002 at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, Henry won the women's 100 metre freestyle as well as being a member of the team who won both the 4x100 m freestyle relay and the 4x100 m medley relay.

Later that year she won silver at the Pan Pacific titles in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, and helped Australia to victory over the USA in the freestyle and medley relays.

In 2003, Henry won the 100 m silver medal, and picked up bronze in both the 4x100 m and 4x100 m medley relays, at the World Championships in Barcelona. She was also named the Speedo sprint female of the year for 2003.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Henry anchored the Australian Women's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle Relay team that won the gold medal in world record time. She then competed in the individual 100 metre Freestyle, breaking the previous world record time of 53.66 seconds (set by team member Libby Lenton) with a time of 53.52 seconds in the semi-finals. She then went on to win the gold medal for the event, the first Australian to do so since Dawn Fraser 40 years earlier. In her final race at Athens she swam the last leg (freestyle) of the 4 x 100 metre medley relay, again helping the Australian team win gold in world record time, leaving her with 3 gold medals and 3 world records.

Women's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle Relay
- 1st- Australia (Alice Mills, Libby Lenton, Petria Thomas, Jodie Henry) 3:35.94 -World Record
Women's 100 metre Freestyle
- Semi-final 2: 1st- 53.52 -World Record
- Final: 1st- 53.84
Women's 4 x 100 metre Medley Relay
- 1st- Australia (Giaan Rooney, Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas, Jodie Henry) 3:57.32 -World Record

She was awarded an MBE, and Order of Australia medals that year.

On November 29, 2004, Henry was named the Australian Swimmer of the Year, becoming just the third woman in 15 years to take the honor, joining Susie O'Neill and Hayley Lewis, the only other two women to win the award since it was first given in 1990. Henry also snapped Ian Thorpe's 5-year stranglehold on the award, though Thorpe shared it with Grant Hackett in 2003. Henry just beat out teammate Petria Thomas to take the honor. Jodie was also named Female Sprint Freestyler and her win with Thomas, Giaan Rooney, and Leisel Jones in the 4x100 Medley Relay in Athens was named the Golden Moment of the Year.[1]

Henry reaffirmed her status as the world's leading 100 m freestyle swimmer after she took out the 100 m freestyle gold medal at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, clocking 54.18s.

That win came on top of her leadoff role in Australia's victorious 4x100 m freestyle team and second relay gold as a heat swimmer in the 4x100 m medley.

She is a friend and was a training partner of Alice Mills under Shannon Rollason, until after nine years, she announced that she would be switching to the tutelage of John Fowlie.

Lenton broke Henry's world record at the Commonwealth Games selection trials, setting a new mark of 53.42s. Henry finished with the silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, finishing behind compatriot Lenton (24.61) in the 50 m and (54.54) 100 m freestyle, clocking 53.78s and a personal best in the 50 m 24.72s for another silver behind Lenton. Henry swam a swift leg in the 4x100 m freestyle relay, helping Australia to the gold medal.

On March 25, at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Henry claimed Gold again. Combining with Shayne Reese, rookie Melanie Schlanger and great mate Libby Lenton, Henry anchored the Australian 4x100 m freestyle relay team in a world championship record time of three minutes 35.58 seconds, ahead of the USA in 3:35.68 and the Netherlands in 3:35.81.

[edit] Quotes

"I used to get really really nervous when I was younger. At the last Olympic trials I was so nervous I threw up."
"I just look at swimming as though it is just a sport. It's not life, you're not going to die if you don't do well in it"
"I don't want to take swimming too seriously to a point where it is the only thing I want to do well at because then you get so much more nervous because it is the only thing you've got."
"I'm pretty sure my nanna is going psycho right now." - after winning the Olympic 100m freestyle gold medal in 2004.
"It's not a miracle. It's just four talented girls who put together four good swims," she said after winning the 2007 World Championship gold medal in 2007.