Belinda's Story
Belinda Hocking comes from Albury, NSW but came through the AIS swimming program in Canberra. Hocking won three gold and two silver medals at the 2007 Australian Youth Olympic Festival. In 2008 she clocked the second fastest national time in the 100m backstroke and by 2009 the 200m backstroke record was hers. Hocking placed eighth in the 200m backstroke at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She has since won back-to-back 200m backstroke titles at the Australian Championships in 2009 and 2010, as well as a bronze medal at the 2010 Pan Pacs in the same event.
Hocking performed strongly at the 2012 nomination trials when she won the 200m backstroke and finished second in the 100m backstroke to book her spot in the Australian Team for the London 2012 Games. She went on to finish seventh in the 100m backstroke in London as compatriot Emily Seebohm won silver. Hocking finished fifth in her 200m backstroke semi-final and missed the final.
2013 was the start of a great two years for Hocking. She claimed silver in the 200m backstroke at the World Championships in Barcelona before taking home two gold medals (200m backstroke and 4 x 100m medley relay) and a bronze (100m backstroke) at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Late in 2014, Hocking accidently set herself on fire, had a car accident and a string of sporting injuries saw her taking a hiatus from the pool to regroup. However, she was back in the pool in late 2015 and then secured her spot in Rio with a stunning performance in the 200m backstroke final at the 2016 Nationals, claiming the title in a surprise upset over 2015 World Champion Seebohm.
In Rio, Hockey won her 200m backstroke heat, then third in her semi-final to progress to the final where she finished fifth in a time of 2:08.02.
