Olympic swimmer announces retirement

Australian swimmer Melanie Wright (nee Schlanger) has announced she is hanging up her googles.

Australian swimmer Melanie Schlanger

Five-time Olympic medallist Melanie Wright has announced her retirement from swimming. (AAP)

Five-time Olympic medallist Melanie Wright has announced her retirement from swimming.

Wright (nee Schlanger) confirmed the news on social media after failing to make the 100m freestyle final at the Rio Olympic trials in Adelaide on Monday night.

"And with that I wave goodbye to a competitive swimming career that spanned more than 15 years," the 29-year-old dual Olympian wrote on her Facebook page.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist had battled a rib complaint ahead of the Rio trials, costing her seven weeks of training.

A similar rib injury forced her to miss the 2013 world titles and contemplate retirement.

Wright's highlight was anchoring the 4x100m freestyle relay team at the London 2012 Olympics, keeping at bay surging defending champions Netherlands and securing Australia's only gold medal in the pool.

Wright - married to fellow Olympian Chris Wright - said she would soon begin studying medicine on the Gold Coast.


Share

1 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world