Stephanie Rice is a swimmer who has competed for Australia. She competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Rice was widely regarded as the world's top female all-around swimmer after Yana Klochkova retired from the sport in 2007. She was also favored to win multiple world records and gold medals in the medley double at Beijing 2008. There, she pulled away to a strong finish on the freestyle leg for her country's first gold of the Games and its four hundredth medal in Summer Olympic history. She reclaimed a world record time from Katie Hoff in 4:29.45, becoming the first woman to clear the 4:30 mark in the 400 IM. On the other half of the medley double (200), Rice lowered her own world record from the Australian trials by almost half a second (0.5) to add another gold. With this feat, she became the fifth female swimmer to strike the medley double since Claudia Kolb topped the podium in 1968, Tracy Caulkins in 1984, Michelle Smith in 1996, and Klochkova in 2000 and 2004. Apart from her medley double, she also completed the lead-off leg with a new Oceania record in the 200 metres freestyle (1:56.60) and saw her teammates maintain the pace to clear the 7:50 mark for the gold and the world record (7:44.31) in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay.
Rice returned to her second Games in London four years later as the defending champion of the medley double. Unlike in Beijing, she lost both of her races to Ye Shiwen, leaving her without a single medal.
Olympic Results[]
| Year | Event | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Women's 200m individual medley | 
|
| Women's 400m individual medley |
| |
| Women's 4x200m freestyle relay |
| |
| 2012 | Women's 200m individual medley | 4th |
| Women's 400m individual medley | 6th |
2008[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 metres individual medley | Heats | 2:12.07 | |
| Semifinal | 2:10.58 | ||
| Final | 2:08.45 | WR | |
| 400 metres individual medley | Heats | 4:35.11 | |
| Final | 4:29.45 | WR | |
| 4x200 metres freestyle relay | Heats | 7:55.10 (Reserve) |
|
| Final | 7:44.31 (1:56.60 split, AR) |
WR |
2012[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 200 metres individual medley | Heats | 2:12.23 |
| Semifinal | 2:10.80 | |
| Final | 2:09.55 | |
| 400 metres individual medley | Heats | 4:35.76 |
| Final | 4:35.49 |