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Henry was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and like many Australians grew up swimming, but began swimming competitively at the relatively late age of 14. She has a youthful, easygoing manner but was not very self assured when younger.
When her coach told her she had a chance of making the Olympics if she worked hard, she avoided training for the next two weeks. After being dropped by her mother at the swimming centre, she would go and feed the ducks at a nearby pond. Just before being picked her up she would wet her hair so as to look as if she had been swimming.
Her coach once thought she had given up swimming after dissapearing for an entire winter, only to turn up with the warmer weather. She is still known to miss early morning training sessions, describing herself as definitely "not a morning person", especially on Monday.
Before the Sydney Olympic trials it took almost an hour to persuade her too come out of the bathroom due to pre races nerves, "I was so nervous I threw up". She was delighted when she didn't make the team.
She now has more confidence in her and takes a more relaxed attitude toward swimming, "It's not a life and death situation, so why get yourself all stressed out?"
She is a friend and training partner of Alice Mills
In 2002 at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, Henry won the women's 100 metre freestyle as well as being a member of the team who won both the 4x100m freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley relay.
In Athens, Henry anchored the Australian Women's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle Relay team that won the gold medal in world record time. She then competed in the individual 100 metre Freestyle, breaking the previous world record time of 53.77 seconds with a time of 53.52 seconds. She then went on to win the gold medal for the event, the first Australian to do so since Dawn FraserDawn Fraser (born September 4 1937) is an Australian champion swimmer. Known for her politically incorrect behaviour or larrikin character as much as her athletic ability, Fraser won eight Olympic and eight Commonwealth Games medals. In October 1962 she b 40 years earlier. In her final race at Athens she swam the last leg (freestyle) of the 4 x 100 metre Medley RelayHeats Heat 1 # United States, ( Haley Cope, Tara Kirk, Rachel Komisarz, Amanda Weir) 4:02. 82 # Germany, ( Antje Buschschulte, Sarah Poewe, Franziska van Almsick, Daniela Gotz) 4:04. 16 # Japan, ( Noriko Inada, Masami Tanaka, Junko Onishi, Tomoko Nagai) 4, again helping the Australian team win gold in world record time, leaving her with 3 gold medals and 3 world records.
Returning from Athens, Henry found herself a celebrity, well recieved by the Australian media and public for her youthful, unasuming manner and large smile.