Leisel Jones Olympic Swimmer - Born August 30, 1985 in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia

Birth Name Leisel Marie Jones

Nicknames Leisel the Weasel, Lethal Leisel, Weazel, Weasel, Diesel

Height 5' 9½" (1.77 m)

Mini Bio (1) Leisel Jones was born on August 30, 1985 in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia as Leisel Marie Jones. She is known for her work on Beijing 2008: Games of the XXIX Olympiad (2008), Athens 2004: Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (2004) and Have You Been Paying Attention? (2013). She has been married to Damon Martin since August 4, 2018.

Spouse Damon Martin (4 August 2018 - present)

Trivia (1) Australian former swimmer.

Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal-winning Australian team in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay at the Athens Games in 2004 and a gold medalist for 100-metre breaststroke in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

On 17 March 2012, Jones earned selection to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and became the first Australian swimmer to compete at four Olympic games. There, she won her ninth Olympic medal, a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay.

Jones is noted for employing a classic breaststroke technique, typified by a slow but deeper stroke cycle and also by her slow starts. Along with South African champion Penny Heyns, she is regarded as one of the greatest breaststroke swimmers ever.

Personal While at Southern Cross Catholic College, Jones used to train at the Redcliffe club in Scarborough, Queensland, and was coached by Ken Wood. Her training partners included fellow Australian team members, Geoff Huegill and Jessicah Schipper. After her disappointing campaign in Athens, Jones moved to train at the Fortitude Valley Pool in Brisbane, Australia, alongside Libby Lenton, under Swiss-born coach Stephan Widmar at the Commercial Swimming Club. Following the move, Jones began to speak openly about the depression and self-esteem issues that had plagued her following her being thrust into the spotlight at such a young age. The successes that followed endeared her to an Australian public that had been critical of her attitude following her failure to capture individual gold in Athens. Some, including Dawn Fraser, believed Jones had acted immaturely and ungratefully, particularly in her indifferent displays of emotion during post-race interviews and medal ceremonies.

In 2009, Jones became the new face of the World Animal Protection Australia & New Zealand anti-whaling campaign.

Jones confirmed her retirement from swimming in November 2012. She planned to begin a university degree in psychology in 2013.

In 2015, Jones published an autobiography titled Body Lengths.