Australia’s Jessicah Schipper: Butterfly stroke specialist
Australian butterfly champion Jessicah Schipper is one of the most talented swimmers Australia has produced. Her dominating performance at the senior international stages, Schipper has collected many awards and accolades. Her dynamic swimming techniques
coupled with her gruelling training program has made her the Number one butterfly swimmer of Australia.
Schipper has represented Australia at all the international stages of the world including Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championship, Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Games.
She appeared on the international stage in 2003, where she confirmed her spot in the Australian Swimming team to compete at the World Long Course Championships. Schipper enabled Australian relay team to conquer a bronze medal in the 4*100m medley relay.
The following year, she again made her way to the Australian team to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The team with the extraordinary performance of Schipper in the 100m butterfly occupied the gold medal in the 4*100m medley relay. The same year, the gold
medal in the 400*100m medley relay was also won by Schipper at the World Short Course Championships.
Her gold medals in the team events stimulated her hopes to capture individual gold medals at the world’s mega event and Schipper involved herself in an extensive training program. Then in 2005, Schipper qualified to represent Australia at the World Long
Course Championships where she competed in three events. She smashed a gold medal in the 100m butterfly and 4*100m medley relay whereas she won a silver medal in the 200m butterfly.
This gave a boost to her confidence and Schipper became the star of the swimming world. In 2006, she stunned the arena by occupying a gold medal in the 200m butterfly for the first time at the World Short Course Championships. She also won a gold medal in
the 4*200m freestyle relay and 4*100m medley relay while managing to grab a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly.
The 24-year-old Schipper then defended her titles at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She reached the podium four times at these Games including three gold medals in the 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly and the 4*100m medley relay while she also earned
a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly.
The same year, she demonstrated her dominating skills at the Pan Pacific Championships in the events of 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly and 4*100m medley relay. She occupied the podium for the top spot in the events of the 100m butterfly and the 200m butterfly
while she earned a bronze medal in the 4*100m medley relay.
Unlike many other swimmers, Schipper continued her legacy in 2007 at the World Long Course Championships where she defended her titles with the great audacity. She won the gold medal in the 200m butterfly and the 4*100m medley relay while secured the second
spot on the podium for the 100m butterfly.
Her influential performance at the World Championships qualified her to represent Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Schipper won a gold medal in the 4*100m medley relay whereas she grabbed two bronze medals for the first time in the 100m butterfly
and the 200m butterfly at this mega event.
With her excellent performance, she won the hearts of Australian fans and became the idol of young swimmers. Then at the 2009 World Championships, she conquered a gold medal in the 200m butterfly and two silver medals in the 100m butterfly and 4*100m medley
relay respectively.
In 2006, she won two gold medals in the 200m butterfly and 4*100m medley relay at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and another gold medal in the 200m butterfly at the Pan Pacific Games.
Now in 2011, she has been training very hard to defend her titles at the Australian National Championships so she could represent her country at the 2011 Shanghai World Championships. Schipper aims to defend her titles at the World Championships so she can
proudly raise the flag of her country in China.
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