By Ian Hanson<\/p>\n
February 15. ONE of Australian Swimming's biggest names, Samantha Riley, has joined Kieren Perkins, Susie O'Neill and Chris Fylder in retirement.<\/p>\n
Riley today announced her retirement from the sport which has seen her become one of the highest profile swimmers in Australia.<\/p>\n
Her career spanned over a decade from when she made her first Australian team at the 1991 World Championships in Perth, until the 2000 Telstra Olympic Trials – her last competitive swim.<\/p>\n
Along the way Sam Riley won three Olympic medals – one silver (4x100m medley relay, 1996) and two bronze (100m breaststroke, 1992 and 1996); two World long course Championships, two World short course championships and smashed three world records.<\/p>\n
She also won four Commonwealth Games gold medals – including three in 1994 in the 100 and 200m breaststroke and the 4x100m medley relay.<\/p>\n
In 1996, Samantha was recognized with the OAM in the Queen's Birthday honors list for her committment and dedication to the sport of swimming.<\/p>\n
Riley said today: "It's always a sad time when something you love doing comes to an end but I can reflect on a career that has been satisfying and enjoyable.<\/p>\n
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my swimming teammates, coaches – Scott Volkers and Stephan Widner – sponsors, supporters and my network of family and friends throughout the years who have helped me along the way."<\/p>\n
Riley fell ill just a week prior to last year's Telstra 2000 Trials and did not compete at her best but her fighting spirit saw her qualify for both the 100 and 200m breaststroke finals.<\/p>\n
She started swimming at the age of seven to assist with her asthma problems and she went on to become one of Australia's most admired swimmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ian Hanson February 15. ONE of Australian Swimming's biggest names, Samantha Riley, has joined Kieren Perkins, Susie O'Neill and Chris Fylder in retirement. Riley today announced her retirement from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1598,105,10897,1369,5145,10895,468,168,10898,4003,961,2410,10896,142,3712],"class_list":["post-2221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz","tag-asthma","tag-australia","tag-chris-fylder","tag-commonwealth-games","tag-ian-hanson","tag-neill-fylder","tag-perth","tag-queen","tag-queens-birthday","tag-sam-riley","tag-samantha-riley","tag-scott-volkers","tag-stephan-widner","tag-swimming","tag-telstra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n