Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. 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-meter 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.

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.

...
Wikipedia