After record-equalling five medals it’s time to relax
AUSTRALIA’S Games darling Alicia Coutts is planning a Bali getaway and a ride on Dreamworld’s The Giant Drop to celebrate her medals windfall after calculating she has swum from Sydney to London to fulfil her Olympic dreams.
The humble go-girl of the pool realised yesterday that her life had changed when two Londoners stopped her on the Underground railway to offer congratulations for her recordequalling five medals at a single Olympics.
‘‘I’m not someone who gets recognised,’’ Coutts said. ‘‘I’m just normal.’’
Coutts, 24, has calculated she has clocked 17,000km in the training pool, the equivalent of a Sydney-London swim.
‘‘I hope people back in Australia realise every- one is trying as hard as I have and just how difficult it is to win a silver or bronze medal before you even think of gold,’’ Coutts said.
‘‘I haven’t really had a good holiday since I was 14, so just relaxing in Bali and The Giant Drop are two things I can’t wait to do when I have a break.’’
Coutts is Australia’s standardbearer in London with a gold, three silvers and a bronze to join Shane Gould (1972) and Ian Thorpe (2000) as the only Australians to win five medals at a single Olympics.
The Audi she drives to training for 5am starts each morning at her Canberra base and gearbacking from ASICS are the only two sponsorships the unassuming Queensland champion has, but flying under the radar has always been her style.
Swimming on to a third Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, when she would be 28, may be a step too far, but Coutts gave Australia’s rookieladen swim team a huge boost by declaring she would definitely be back for the world championships in Barcelona next year.
‘‘I know how much I’ve been training, how much work I’ve put in and how many sacrifices I’ve made to get to this point,’’ Coutts said.
‘‘To have my name mentioned with Ian Thorpe is amazing. I’ll keep swimming. I’m back in the water on October 1 but Rio just may be too far.’’
Coutts undertook a cake-decorating course in Sydney and has a private wish to set up a cafe brimming with cakes and chocolate.
She has certainly done her bit to put the candles on Australia’s medal cake in London.