Justin Norris

Justin Neville Norris (born 3 June 1980) is an Australian butterfly and individual medley swimmer, who won the bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Coming from Newcastle, New South Wales, Norris relocated to the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra in 1999 after being awarded a scholarship. He subsequently gained selection for Australia at the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney. At his first Olympics in Sydney, Norris made a poor start, missing the final of the 400 m individual medley. However, he qualified for the final of the 200 m butterfly, where he was considered an outsider. Having nothing to lose, Norris attacked from the start, contesting the lead over the first 100 m. Willed on by a partisan home crowd, he managed to hang onto third position as the favourites surged for the finished line. While being interviewed on the pooldeck, a bewildered Norris repeatedly used what has become his winning catchphrase - "I'm stoked".

In 2001, Norris claimed another bronze at the 2001 FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, this time in the 200 m individual medley, and in 2002 collected triple gold in the 200 m and 400 m individual medley and the 200 m butterfly at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. However in 2003, he had no success in his three events, failing to medal at the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. He fared even worse at the 2004 Athens Olympics, failing to reach a single final.

On arrival back in Australia, Norris departed the AIS to return to Newcastle, and thereafter announced that he would be taking a year out of swimming in 2005.

External links

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* [http://www.justinnorrisswimacademy.com/ Justin Norris Swim Academy]