SYDNEY - Australian Olympic and world champion Libby Trickett (nee Lenton) announced her retirement on Monday.

Trickett, 24, won gold with the 400m freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games and an individual title in the women’s 100 butterfly in Beijing.

She also won three gold medals at the 2005 Worlds in Montreal and five titles in Melbourne 2007.

Few days later, she became the first woman to crack 53sec over 100m freestyle but she had to wait a while longer for that to become official: her 52.99 blast was swum in a lane next to Michael Phelps at the Duel in the Pool between Australian and the US, and did not, therefore meet FINA race regulations, the international federation decreed.

Swimming Australia announced: "She plans to spend more time with her family and look to pursue a career in the media with Network TEN and ONE."

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