Jessicah Schipper OAM is a swimmer and Olympian who was awarded a Scholarship within the 2007 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, she was paired with Susan O’Neill AM as her Mentor.
Jessicah was born in Brisbane in 1986, and was winning awards as early as 2002, when she won the Brisbane Swimming Association Swimmer of the Stroke Award for Butterfly and was named Australian Female Youth Swimmer of the Year. Throughout her career, she would compete in three Olympic Games, five World Championships and two Commonwealth Games. She also won 30 international medals and broke seven world records.
Jessicah rose to international prominence with gold in the 4 x 100m Medley Relay at the Olympic Games in 2004. A year later she won gold at the World Championships in the relay and the 100m Butterfly, setting a new Commonwealth record. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she won three gold and set more records, before winning medals of every colour at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games. She also broke world and Commonwealth records in the process.
Between 2010 and 2012, Jessicah won gold at the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships and compered in yet another Olympic Games.
Jessicah also played a significant role outside of the pool. She was an ambassador for organisations such as Down Syndrome Swim Team, Leukemia Support Queensland and MS Queensland.
Jessica was fortunate to be paired with her idol Susie O’Neill AM as a Mentor after being awarded as a Scholarship for the SAHOF Scholarship & Mentoring Program in 2007.
Honours & Achievements
- 2002: Australian Female Youth Swimmer of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2002: Brisbane Swimming Assoc 2002 Swimmer of the Stroke Award for Butterfly.
- 2003: Brisbane Swimming Assoc 2003 Rising Star Award.
- 2003: Brisbane Swimming Assoc 2003 Swimmer of the Stroke Award for Butterfly.
- 2003: Teen Challenge 2003 Sports Student of the Year.
- 2003: Pine Rivers State High School – Sportswoman of the Year.
- 2003: The Courier Mail Junior Sportsperson of the Year Award.
- 2004: Pine Rivers Australia Day Sportsperson of the Year Award 2004.
- 2004: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club Swimmer of the Year.
- 2004: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club – Club Captain.
- 2004: Clem Jones Group Junior Athlete of the Year Award.
- 2005: Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
- 2005: Female Butterfly swimmer of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2005: Finalist Australian Swimmer of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2005: ‘Dickson’ Australia Day Sportsperson of the Year Award 2005.
- 2005: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club Swimmer of the Year.
- 2005: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club – Club Captain.
- 2005: Finalist Courier Mail Queensland Sportswoman of the Year Award.
- 2006: Quest Newspapers Sportsperson of the Year Award 2006.
- 2006: Queensland Young Achiever Sports Award.
- 2006: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club Swimmer of the Year.
- 2006: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club – Club Captain.
- 2006: Female Butterfly swimmer – All Star Team of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2006: Finalist Australian Swimmer of the Year (2006 TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2006: Queensland Young Sportswoman of the Year – Womensports Queensland.
- 2007: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder.
- 2007: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club Swimmer of the Year.
- 2007: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club – Club Captain.
- 2007: Sports Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program Awardee.
- 2007: People’s Choice Swimmer of the Year – (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2007: Swimmer’ Swimmer of the Year – (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2007: Female Butterfly swimmer – All Star Team of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2007: Finalist Australian Swimmer of the Year (2007 TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2007: Queensland Young Sportswoman of the Year – Womensports Queensland.
- 2008: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club Swimmer of the Year.
- 2008: Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Swim Club – Club Captain.
- 2008: Female Butterfly swimmer – All Star Team of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2008: Finalist Queensland Sportswoman of the Year – Womensports Queensland.
- 2009: Swimming Australia – TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year.
- 2009: Swimming Australia – Swimmer’s Swimmer of the Year.
- 2009: Swimming Australia – People’s Choice Swimmer of the Year.
- 2009: Female Butterfly swimmer – All Star Team of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2009: The Female Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year award.
- 2009: The Don Award Finalist – Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
- 2009: Finalist Queensland Sportswoman of the Year – Womensport Queensland.
- 2009: Finalist Q-Sport ‘Sports Star of the Year’.
- 2010: Female Butterfly swimmer – All Star Team of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2010: Finalist Queensland Sportswoman of the Year – Womensports Queensland
- 2011: Female Butterfly swimmer – All Star Team of the Year (TELSTRA Swimmer of the Year Awards).
- 2011: Finalist Queensland Sportswoman of the Year – Womensports Queensland.
National and International Swim Highlights
2003: World Championships, Barcelona.
- 10th – 100m Butterfly.
- 10th – 200m Butterfly.
- 3rd – 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Rooney, Jones, Schipper, Henry).
2004: Olympic Games, Athens.
- 4th – 100m Butterfly final (.5 behind 1st place).
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Heat Team – Rooney, Hanson, Schipper, Mills) (Final team – Rooney, Jones, Thomas, Henry).
2004: World Short Course Championships, Indianapolis.
- 5th – 100 Butterfly.
- 4th – 200 Butterfly.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay WORLD SHORT COURSE RECORD (Rooney, Hanson, Schipper, Lenton).
2005: World Swimming Championships, Montreal Canada.
- 1st – 100m Butterfly Commonwealth Record – World Champion.
- 2nd – 200m Butterfly Commonwealth Record.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Edington, Jones, Schipper, Lenton).
2006: Commonwealth Games, Melbourne Australia.
- 1st – 100m Butterfly Games Record.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly Games Record.
- 2nd – 50m Butterfly.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay WORLD RECORD (Edington, Jones, Schipper, Lenton).
2006: World Short Course Championships, Shanghai China.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly Championship Record.
- 1st – 4 x 200m Free Relay.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay WORLD RECORD (Zimmer, Edmistone, Schipper, Lenton).
- 3rd – 100m Butterfly.
2006: Pan Pacific Championships, Victoria BC Canada.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly WORLD RECORD *Individual.
- 1st – 100m Butterfly Championship Record.
- 3rd – 4 x 100m Medley Relay.
2007: World Swimming Championships, Melbourne Australia.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly, World Champion.
- 2nd – 100m Butterfly.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay WORLD RECORD (Seebohm, Jones, Schipper, Lenton).
2008: Olympic Games, Beijing.
- 3rd – 100m Butterfly.
- 3rd – 200m Butterfly.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay WORLD RECORD (Seebohm, Jones, Schipper, Trickett).
2009: World Swimming Championships, Rome Italy.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly WORLD RECORD World Champion.
- 2nd – 100m Butterfly COMMONWEALTH RECORD.
- 2nd – 4 x 100m Medley Relay COMMONWEALTH RECORD (Seebohm, Katsoulis, Schipper, Trickett).
2010: Pan Pacific Championships, Irvine California.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly.
- 1st – 100m Butterfly.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay.
2010: Commonwealth Games, Delhi India.
- 1st – 200m Butterfly.
- 1st – 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Seebohm, Jones, Schipper, Coutts).
2011: World Swimming Championships, Shanghai China.
- 7th – 200m Butterfly final.
- 7th – 100m Butterfly final.
2012: Olympic Games, London UK.
- 24th – 100m Butterfly.
- 12th – 200m Butterfly semi-final.