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Tracey Lee Wickham (born 24 November 1962 in Rosebud, Victoria) is an Australian former middle distance swimmer. Wickham was the World Champion for the 400 m and 800 m freestyle in 1978, and won gold in both events at the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games. She is a former world record holder for the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame/member-profile/?memberID=235&memberType=athlete )〕 Despite her success in the pool, Wickham has battled financial hardship and personal tragedy throughout her life. ==Swimming career== Wickham began swimming at the age of eight at John Rigby’s pool in Brisbane and mastered her technique under the guidance of Peter Diamond. At the age of thirteen, she was selected to be on the Australian team for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games but failed to reach the finals at that meet. In 1977, Wickham’s family moved to California, where she trained for six months with coaching legend Mark Schubert. She returned to Brisbane at the end of 1977 and she came under the guidance of coach Bill Sweetenham at the Commercial Swimming Club. On 8 February 1978, Wickham broke her first world record, the 1500 m freestyle, in a solo swim at the Fortitude Valley Pool in Brisbane, clocking 16:14.93. At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, Wickham won both the 400 m and 800 m freestyle. That same year, she set world records in both events, and won both the 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the 1978 Berlin World Championships, setting a world 400 m record of 4.06.28, which stood as the Championship record until 2007. Both world records stood until 1987, long after her retirement. In 1980, Australia decided against an official boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. However Wickham, along with a number of other Australian athletes, elected to boycott the Games personally. The 800 m freestyle was won by fellow Australian Michelle Ford at that meet. Wickham retired at the end of 1979 due to financial problems. The policy of amateurism was upheld by the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia during this period, meaning Wickham could neither earn money from the sport nor receive any prizes. Wickham returned to swimming in the early 1980s under coach Laurie Lawrence. She won gold in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, where she took the Athletes Oath at the Opening Ceremony. Her gold medal for the 400 m was presented to her by Queen Elizabeth II and Wickham retired from swimming immediately afterwards. Following the birth of her daughter, Wickham dived back into the water in May 1990, again with Lawrence as her coach. She competed in the 7.6 km open water race from Magnetic Island to Townsville, placing first in the female division.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Successful solo race crossings 1954–2008 )〕 She also won the female division of the Lake Trasimeno 20 km marathon race. She retired for good following the birth of her son in January 1992. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tracey Wickham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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