Nicole Livingstone

Nicole Dawn Livingstone, OAM (born 24 June 1971) is an Australian former competitive swimmer. Since retiring from swimming Livingstone has had careers as a television sports commentator and media presenter and as a sports administrator. She was known for a period as Nicole Stevenson, when she was married to Australian cyclist Clayton Stevenson.

Nicole Livingstone
Personal information
Full nameNicole Dawn Livingstone
National teamAustralia
Born (1971-06-24) 24 June 1971
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke
ClubMelbourne Vicentre
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing Australia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona200 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta4×200 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Silver medal – second place 1991 Perth4×100 m medley
World Championships (SC)
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Rio 4×200 m freestyle
Pan Pacific Championships
Gold medal – first place 1987 Brisbane 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 1987 Brisbane 200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 1995 Atlanta 200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 1995 Atlanta 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1989 Tokyo 100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 1989 Tokyo 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1991 Edmonton 100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 1991 Edmonton 200 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 1991 Edmonton 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1993 Kobe 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 1995 Atlanta 100 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place 1989 Tokyo 200 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Edmonton 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Edmonton 4×200 m freestyle
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1990 Auckland 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 1990 Auckland 4x100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 1994 Victoria 100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 1994 Victoria 200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 1994 Victoria 4x100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 1994 Victoria 4x200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1990 Auckland 200 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 1994 Victoria 200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Edinburgh 100 m backstroke

Early life

Livingstone grew up in Melbourne and started swimming at 9. She attended Parkdale Secondary College.[1]

Her mother worked at Metropolitan Golf Club and her father at Carlton & United Breweries.

She had an older brother, Gary and older sister, Karen.[2]

Swimming career

Livingstone competed for Australia in three summer Olympics - 1988, 1992, and 1996 - winning both individual and team medals. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[3]

She held the Australian record for the 200-metre backstroke, with at time of 2:10.20, set on 31 July 1992 at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain for 16 years. Meagen Nay broke the Australian record twice at the 2008 Australian Olympic Trials. She is the only Australian swimmer to have competed in six successive Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. Livingston’s coaches included Bill Nelson at Melbourne Vicentre and Gennadi Touretski.

Notable races
  • 1991 World Aquatics Championships (Perth), 4x100 medley relay, 2nd place Australia (with Linley Frame, Susie O'Neill, Karen Van Wirdum)
  • 1992, 200 m backstroke, set world short course record, Melbourne.
  • 1992 Summer Olympics, 200 m backstroke, Bronze medal.
  • 1996 Summer Olympics, 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, Bronze medal (with Julia Greville, Emma Johnson, Susan O'Neill)
  • 1996 Summer Olympics, 4 × 100 m medley relay, Silver medal (with Samantha Riley, Susan O'Neill, Sarah Ryan)

Media career

Upon retiring from swimming following the 1996 Olympics, Livingstone began commentating on the surf lifesaving and swimming on the Nine Network.[4]

While at Nine she also had the role of host of Nine's Wide World of Sport, Sports Saturday and Any Given Sunday with Mick Molloy in 2006.[5]

When the swimming coverage moved to Network 10 in 2009, Livingstone moved stations.[4]

In 2017 Livingstone co-hosted Sideliners with Tegan Higginbotham on the ABC which was looking to put a female lens on sport.[6]

Livingstone has also been a sports presenter on Nine News PM Edition and a fill in presenter on Network Ten's Sports Tonight.

Since her retirement, Livingstone has travelled to all six Summer Olympics and at the Commonwealth Games as a commentator for the swimming coverage.

Nicole has worked for Amazon Prime Video in 2021 and 2022 commentating on the Australian Swimming Championships.

She has also been a presenter for Melbourne station SEN 1116 and appeared on a number of programs including The Project and Q+A.

Business and administrative roles

Sporting roles

Livingstone has worked on multiple boards for various sporting bodiesLivingstone is active in promoting drug-free sports in Australia and is involved in the Australian Olympic Committee's "Live Clean, Play Clean" anti-doping education program. She was also a board member of the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA), whose mission is to combat drug use in sports.

Livingstone was elected to the board of the Australian Olympic Committee in 2013.[7] In 2017 she backed the campaign for Danni Roche to take over as the head of the , and ran in the elections for the executive.[8] While Roche's campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, Livingstone was the only member of the rival ticket to be elected.[9]

Livingstone sits on the Board of Swimming Australia[6] and has been the Chief Executive of the Melbourne Vicentre Swimming Club since July 2012 until the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]

Livingstone was announced as the Australian Football League's head of women's football on 16 November 2017.[7] At this time she resigned her post on the executive of the AOC. She is responsible for managing the AFL Women's competition.[11]

In addition to these roles, she has also sat on the board of the Victorian Olympic Council.[12]

Other roles

At the time of her appointment to the board of Swimming Australia, Livingstone was also a member of the VicHealth and State Sports Centre Trust boards.[12]

Following her mother's death from ovarian cancer, Livingstone started Ovarian Cancer Australia and is currently the patron of the organisation.[1]

Personal life

Livingstone was married to cyclist Clayton Stevenson, and is currently married to cinematographer Marty Smith.[1]

She has three children, twins Ella and Joshua in 2002, and a second son, Robinson in 2007.[6][5]

Her mother died from ovarian cancer, and both Livingstone and her sister have both tested positive for the BRCA2 gene. They have both had surgery to remove their ovaries.[2]

Her father died of prostate cancer in 2014.

Honours

Livingstone was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1997 for service to swimming as a representative at state, national and international levels.[13]

A Sydney RiverCat ferry was named after Livingstone in 1995.

She was a finalist for Veuve Clicquot BOLD Woman award in 2021.[1]

See also

References
  1. "AFLW head Nicole Livingstone and former Olympic swimmer says 'sport shouldn't be a full-time job'". Australian Financial Review. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  2. Doreian, Robyn (23 June 2016). "Two of Us: Nicole and Karen Livingstone". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  3. AIS at the Olympics Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Kalina, Paul (22 September 2010). "'I've earned my place'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. "NICOLE LIVINGSTONE O.A.M." NICOLE LIVINGSTONE O.A.M. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  6. "Nicole Livingstone, 46, champion swimmer, TV host".
  7. "Livingstone quits AOC board for AFLW role". The West Australian. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. Baum, Greg (24 April 2017). "AOC board to hold crisis meeting this week". The Examiner. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  9. "Livingstone steps down from Australian Olympic Committee Executive to take up role with AFL". www.insidethegames.biz. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  10. Inside with Brett Hawke: Nicole Livingstone, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 31 October 2021
  11. Whiting, Michael (16 November 2017). "Former Olympian named woman's footy boss". afl.com.au.
  12. "Livingstone couldn't sit on the sidelines". PerthNow. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  13. "Nicole Stevenson". Australian Honours Database. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
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