Jade Edmistone (born 6 February 1982 in Brisbane,
Queensland) is an Australian breaststroke swimmer,
who is the current world-record holder in the 50 m
breaststroke at both short and long course formats
of the event. She is coached by Stephan Widmar at
the Commercial Swim Club in Brisbane. She stands at
183 cm and weighs 71 kg.
In 2004, Edmistone emerged as an international
calibre swimmer, at the Telstra Australian Short
Course Championships. She gave three powerful
displays, when her three swims in the heats,
semifinals and final produced a Commonwealth record,
an equalling of the world record and a new world
record for the 50 m breaststroke (29.90s).
She followed that with a personal best time to
finish second to Olympic silver medallist Brooke
Hanson in the 100 m breaststroke final to qualify
for her second event at the FINA Short Course World
Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the World
Championships, Edmistone won the silver medal in the
50 m breaststroke, just 0.01 s behind Hanson. She
also took home silver in the 100m breaststroke, also
behind Hanson.
Edmistone qualified for her first long course
international team in March 2005, when she won the
50 m breaststroke at the Australian Swimming
Championships in Sydney. She had set national
records twice on her way to the final. She won her
first world title by breaking the world record in
the 50 m breaststroke at the 2005 World Aquatics
Championships in Montreal, Canada in July 2005,
setting a time of 30.45 s.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games Trials in February
2006 in Melbourne, Edmistone set a new personal best
in the 100 m breaststroke to become the 2nd fastest
Australian of all-time, and further lowered her own
world record in the 50 metres breaststroke to
30.31s. It was the first world record to be set at
the new pool built for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
She claimed silver in both the 50 m and 100 m
breaststroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games,
trailing Leisel Jones in both cases. Then followed
up at the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships
in Shanghai with Gold in the 50 m breaststroke,
bronze in the 100 m breaststroke and joined Tayliah
Zimmer, Jessicah Schipper and Libby Lenton in the
4x100 m medley relay to take gold and set a new
world record, beating the previous record by 3
seconds.
Edmistone married fellow Australian swim team member
Andrew Richards on 22 April 2006 in a ceremony held
at Lyrebird Ridge Organic Winery, a property owned
and managed by her aunt and uncle in the beautiful
Shoalhaven. Edmistone is also currently completing a
university degree.
