Kylie Palmer

Who is Kylie Palmer?

Kylie Jayne Palmer OAM, is an Australian distance freestyle swimmer.

She attended Grace Lutheran College, Rothwell. She was Sports Captain for her house, Pegasus and represented the school in many aquatic events.

At the 2007 Australian Short Course Championships she set an Australian and Commonwealth record in the 800 metres freestyle of 8:14.11.

She represented Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, where she finished 5th in the 400 metres freestyle. At the 2007 Melbourne World Championships she came 8th in the 800 metres freestyle.

At the 2008 Short Course World Championships in Manchester Palmer won 4 medals. Two titles over 200m and 400m freestyle, one silver medal over 800m freestyle and a bronze medal with the 4×200m freestyle relay.

At the 2008 Australian Swimming Championships she won the 800 metres freestyle in a personal best time of 8:24.30, thus qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Also, by finishing 4th in the 200 metres freestyle, she qualified to swim in the relay at the games.

At the Beijing Olympics, 14 August 2008, Palmer won gold for the 4×200 women's relay team, with other members Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt and Linda MacKenzie. The Australian team overcame world superpowers USA and China to beat the world record of 7:44:31 by 5.78 seconds. Palmer was the fastest swimmer of her team, giving Australia a 3.14 second advantage.