Jessicah Schipper Named Australian Swimmer of the Year

CANBERRA, Australia, October 7. WORLD Champion and world record holder Jessicah Schipper has won the 2009 Telstra Swimmer of the Year Award at Parliament House in Canberra tonight in an evening of high praise for the 22-year-old butterflyer from Brisbane.

The 200m butterfly gold medallist from this year's World Championships in Rome, and silver medallist in the 100m fly, Schipper literally scooped the pool at Swimming's Australia's night of nights, winning the top award, as well as the Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year, People's Choice Award and being named on the Telstra International All-Star team for 2009.

Schipper won the Swimmer of the Year award from fellow Rome gold medallists Melissa Gorman, Marieke Guehrer and Brenton Rickard, as well as being voted the best swimmer of the year by her peers in the Telstra Dolphins Australian Swim Team.

More than 5000 votes were received for the Telstra People's Choice Award with Schipper again taking out the gong with 40 percent of the vote while her selection on the International All-Star team was a mere formality following a stunning year which included world records over both the long and short course.

In the other major awards Nerice Holland, the daughter 1976 Olympian and bronze medallist in the 1500m Steve Holland, won the Telstra Swimmer of the Year with a disability after her amazing performance of 13 gold medals at the Global Games in the Czech Republic.

Melissa Gorman won the Open Water Swimmer of the Year for her gold medal victory in the 5km in Rome, while sprint queen Libby Trickett took out the Short Course swimmer of the year following her world record (51.01) in the 100m freestyle.

Breaststroke world record holder in the 100m, Brenton Rickard was a popular winner of the Speedo Golden Moment of the Year award, paying tribute to his long time coach and mentor Vince Raleigh, while fellow gold medallist Marieke Guehrer took out the Australian Unity Club Leadership Award for her commitment and dedication to her club Melbourne Vicentre.

Schipper and Holland's coaches, Stephan Widmer and Drew McGergor were named Coaches of the Year while the youngest member of this Telstra Dolphins team, 16-year-old Ellen Fullerton was awarded the Australian Sports Commission Discovery of the Year.

An exclusive 60min highlights package of the 2009 Telstra Swimmer of the Year will air on ONE on Saturday 10 October from 7.50pm.

A full list of Schipper's highlights and all award winners are detailed below.

2009 Jessicah Schipper highlights

13th FINA World Championships
Gold in the 200m Butterfly – 2:03.41 World Record
Silver in the 100m Butterfly – 56.23 Commonwealth Record
Silver in the 4x100m Medley Relay – 3:52.58 Commonwealth Record

Telstra Australian Championships
Gold in the 100m Butterfly – 56.90
Gold in the 200m Butterfly – 2:05.93

Telstra Australian Short Course Championships
Gold in the 200m Butterfly – 2:03.32 Commonwealth Record
Gold in the 100m Butterfly – 55.68 World Record

2009 AWARD WINNERS
Telstra Swimmer of the Year – Jessicah SCHIPPER
Telstra Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year – Jessicah SCHIPPER
Telstra People's Choice Award – Jessicah SCHIPPER
Telstra Swimmer of the Year with a Disability – Nerice HOLLAND
Open Water Swimmer of the Year – Melissa GORMAN
Short Course Swimmer of the Year – Libby Trickett
Speedo Golden Moment of the Year – Brenton RICKARD
Australian Unity Club Leadership Award – Marieke GUEHRER
Australian Unity Club of the Year – SYDNEY UNIVERSITY
Swimming Australia Media Award – Nicole LIVINGSTONE (Network Ten)

Telstra International All Star Team: Matthew ABOOD, Cate CAMPBELL, Matthew TARGETT, Libby TRICKETT, Kenrick MONK, Ellen FULLERTON, Robert HURLEY, Bronte BARRATT, Ryan NAPOLEON, Blair EVANS, Ashley DELANEY, Melissa GORMAN, Brenton RICKARD, Sophie EDINGTON, Christian SPRENGER, Emily SEEBOHM, Andrew LAUTERSTEIN, Meagen NAY, Nick D'ARCY, Sarah KATSOULIS, Leith BRODIE, Leisel JONES, Daniel FOX, Marieke GUEHRER, Matt COWDREY, Jessicah SCHIPPER, Richard ELIASON, Stephanie RICE, Trent GRIMSEY, Nerice HOLLAND, Kayla CLARK and Kara LEO

Telstra Coach of the Year – Stephan WIDMER
Telstra Swimmer with a Disability Coach of the Year – Drew MCGREGOR
Open Water Coach of the Year – Ken WOOD
Age Group Coach of the Year – Denis COTTERELL
Australian Sports Commission Discovery of the Year – Ellen FULLERTON
Roger Smith Technical Official of the Year – Jann FATHERS

The following athletes were acknowledged for their services to the Australian Swimming Team: Lara Carroll, Lara Davenport, Trudee Hutchinson, Grant Hackett, Jodie Henry, Jennifer Reilly, Josh Santacaterina, Nicholas Sprenger, Craig Stevens and Tarnee White.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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