Athens Olympic Golden Girl Jodie Henry To Work With Dolphins In The Build Up To Tokyo Olympics

ATHENS - AUGUST 19: Gold medalist Jodie Henry of Australia celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony of the of he women's swimming 100 metre freestyle competition on August 19, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Main Pool of the Olympic Sports Complex Aquatic Centre in Athens, Greece. Inge De Bruijn of the Netherlands came second and Natalie Coughlin of USA came third. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

ATHENS GLORY GIRL: Jodie Henry will play a role with the Dolphins as Queensland co-ordinator of Swimming Australia's Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement team. Photo Courtesy: Olympics.com.au

Athens Olympic gold girl Jodie Henry will play a major role in Australia’s preparations for next year’s Tokyo Olympics with the announcement today of her role as a member of Swimming Australia’s Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement team.

STAR QUALITY: Triple Olympic golden girl Jodie Henry. Photo Courtesy: TLA.

Henry, who won three gold medals in a triumphant women’s team when the Games returned to its birthplace in 2004, will join fellow Olympian, World Champion and Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Manager, Linley Frame.

The 36-year-old mother of three will join the SAL team out of Queensland in a part time role – where she will be embedded in the performance pathway and high performance teams.

South East Queensland is Australia’s major swimming hub with the majority of the Dolphins High Performance Programs based in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

QUEENSLAND BOUND: Australia’s new head coach Rohan Taylor takes over the reigns from Jacco Verhaeren. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)

Australia’s newly appointed National Head Coach Rohan Taylor will be based on the Queensland Sunshine Coast when he officially takes over from Jacco Verhaeren on October 1.

Henry, who is married to two-time Brisbane Lions premiership winning player Tim Notting said it was exciting to be back working in sport and to have the opportunity to give back to swimming.

“Working in this space is something I have been wanting to do for a while. I have experienced it firsthand, not only through my own career but with my husband Tim’s career in the AFL as well, so I have seen different perspectives,” Henry said.

“I took up the opportunity last year to study a certificate IV in career development through the AIS and have been lucky enough to work on the Gold Medal Ready program which has put me in a good place now to be able to offer that advice.”

TIED THE NOTT: Jodie Henry with husband and two-time AFL premiership winner Tim Notting. Photo Courtesy: Courier Mail.

“Sport is very different to any other career, all of a sudden you just don’t do it anymore, so I’m really looking forward to working with athletes on opportunities for them to learn and grow, both now and during that transition phase.”

Swimming Australia Chief Strategist, two-time Canadian Olympic gold medallist, Alex Baumann said it was a fantastic coup to have Henry back working in swimming and thanked the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for their continued investment in this space.

“Jodie has been there and done that, she knows the pressures that come with elite swimming and will be able to provide our athletes with great personal development advice and career and education support,” Baumann said.

“We already have a very strong athlete wellbeing structure in place and are doing some outstanding work with Linley – to now have two Olympians working with our current and aspiring Olympians and Paralympians is superb.

“The AIS has made a significant investment into the athlete wellbeing area and we are incredibly grateful for this. We see it as an integral aspect of high performance sport and an important part of an athlete’s progression through to the elite level.”

Henry’s golden career in the pool began at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester when she won the 100m freestyle – setting her up for what would be a triumphant Olympics in Athens two years later.

The Shannon Rollason coached Queenslander claimed gold in the women’s 100m freestyle – the first Australian in 40 years since Dawn Fraser in 1964 in Tokyo, to win the blue ribband sprint event.

Henry went on to claim two further gold medals at the games in the 4x100m medley relay and the world record breaking 4x100m freestyle relay –swimming the fastest split of any woman in an anchor leg.

She backed up her Olympic gold with a World Championship title in the100m freestyle at Montreal in 2005, before going on to claim silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and two further relay gold at the world championships in 2007 before retiring from competitive swimming in 2009.

BIRMINGHAM CHEF DE MISSION: Olympic and Commonwealth Games butterfly champion Petria Thomas will lead the Australian Team in 2022. Photo Courtesy: News Ltd.

Henry will follow fellow Athens golden girl and triple golden medallist Petria Thomas into administration after Thomas’ appointment as the Chef de Mission of the 2022 Australian Commonwealth Games team for Birmingham.

Thomas has worked with the Dolphins in its High Performance team and played a key role in the 2018 Australian Commonwealth Games HQ Staff as General Manager Team Services.

Henry will begin her role with Swimming Australia on September 1.

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