Grant Hackett Named 2005 Australian Swimmer of the Year

Photo & Story by Stephen J. Thomas

SYDNEY, Australia, November 22. IT came as no surprise to anyone that Grant Hackett, the Australian team captain, was named the 2005 Australian Swimmer of the Year at a formal function in Sydney. Hackett won a golden treble in the 400/800/1500 freestyle, including a world record in the 800, together with silver in the 200 freestyle and a bronze in the 800 freestyle relay at the World Championships in Montreal this year.

It is the second time the 25-year-old Queenslander has won the award having shared the title with five-time winner Ian Thorpe in 2003. Hackett took out five awards in total, having also picked up the Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year (voted by his Aussie team members) and the Swimmer of the Year (People’s Choice) and both men’s Middle Distance and Long Distance Freestyle Swimmer of the Year awards.

Hackett won the Swimmer of the Year from a trio of female stars, Leisel Jones, Libby Lenton and Jessicah Schipper.

Hackett, who has had successful shoulder surgery for a chronic injury last week and was still carrying his right arm in a sling, nearly fell climbing the steps on one of his frequent trips to the stage but was still able to pass a joke that at least he hadn’t broken his ankle as well. He will miss the qualification meet for next year’s Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Games in late January but felt that the shoulder was feeling good and he hoped to be back in training before the end of this year.

While Hackett was the big winner of the night, Libby Lenton also took home three awards, Short Course Swimmer of the Year, Female Sprint Freestyle Swimmer of the Year and Middle Distance Swimmer of the Year. Lenton also had had an outstanding year which included gold in the 50 freestyle in Montreal, both the 400 medley and freestyle relays, and silver in the 800 relay which included a Commonwealth record in her relay leadoff. The 20-year-old also broke three world records in short course this year: the 100 freestyle twice in August and the 200 freestyle just this past weekend at the FINA World Cup meet.

Breaststroker Leisel Jones took the “Golden Moment” of the Year award for her winning the women’s 100 breaststroke in Montreal. Jones finally got the monkey off her back after a series of silver medal efforts at major meets over the past five years. Jones also broke the world record in the 200 breaststroke as well as her contribution in the 400 medley relay gold medal performance. Not surprisingly, Jones also took the female Breaststroke Swimmer of the Year.

Coach of the Year was jointly awarded to Denis Cotterell (Hackett) and Stefan Widmer (Lenton and Jones).

AWARD WINNERS

Services to Swimming Australia 2005
Regan Harrison
Siobhan Paton
Alicia Aberley
Grant Cleland
Trent Steed
Brooke Stockham
Roger Smith AM

Roger Smith Technical Official of the Year
Karen MacLeod – Queensland

Telstra SWD Scholarship Winners
Ben Austin
Daniel Bell
Sarah Bowen
Sam Bramham
Lichelle Clarke
Matthew Cowdrey
Damien Narbeshuber
Sarah Rose
Prue Watt
Rod Welsh
Tamleh Wilson

Australian Sports Commission Male Discovery of the Year
Leith Brodie

Australian Sports Commission Female Discovery of the Year
Jade Edmistone

Swimming Australia Male Individual Medley Swimmer of the Year
Adam Lucas

Swimming Australia Female Individual Medley Swimmer of the Year
Lara Carroll

Age Group Coach of the Year
Denis Cotterell

SWD Coach of the Year
Peter Bishop

Open Water Coach of the Year
Michael Bohl

Coach of the Year
Denis Cotterell and Stefan Widmer

Female Short Course Swimmer of the Year
Libby Lenton

Male Short Course Swimmer of the Year
Jim Piper

Swimming Australia Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year
Trudee Hutchinson

Swimming Australia Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year
Brendan Capell

Swimming Australia Female Breaststroke Swimmer of the Year
Leisel Jones

Swimming Australia Male Breaststroke Swimmer of the Year
Brenton Rickard

Female Sprint Freestyle Swimmer of the Year
Libby Lenton

Male Sprint Freestyle Swimmer of the Year
Michael Klim

Female Middle Distance Freestyle Swimmer of the Year
Libby Lenton

Male Middle Distance Freestyle Swimmer of the Year
Grant Hackett

Female Backstroke Swimmer of the Year
Giaan Rooney

Male Backstroke Swimmer of the Year
Matt Welsh

Female Distance Freestyle Swimmer of the Year
Haylee Reddaway

Male Distance Freestyle Swimmer of the Year
Grant Hackett

Swimming Australia Female Butterfly Swimmer of the Year
Jessicah Schipper

Swimming Australia Male Butterfly Swimmer of the Year
Travis Nederpelt

Female Youth Swimmer of the Year
Bronte Barratt

Male Youth Swimmer of the Year
Andrew Lauterstein

Swimming Australia Golden Moment of the Year 2005
Leisel Jones – 100m Breaststroke 2005 FINA World Championships

Swimmer of the Year (People’s Choice)
Grant Hackett

Swimmer of the Year with a Disability
Matthew Cowdrey

Swimmers’ Swimmer of the Year
Grant Hackett

Swimmer of the Year
Grant Hackett

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