Dolphin relay stalwart Brianna Throssell is leaving the fast lane on a high, as an Olympic champion for Australia at 29, Paris 2024 4x200m freestyle victory the jewel run a crown that includes 39 international medals.

Throssell has a transition plan in place: on Tuesday, she starts a new job with Deloitte’s Mergers and Acquisitions team in Melbourne.

Head Dolphins Coach Rohan Taylor was among those who paid plaudits to the 'fly and freestyle ace, saying: “Brianna has just contributed so much to this Dolphins swim team. She is a swimmer that just kept pushing and really found a way to get better."

Swimming Australia issued the following tribute and celebration of Brianna's career:

Relay Stalwart Brianna Throssell Announces Retirement

This three-time Olympian may have helped set a new Olympic record in Paris, and won gold as part of the 4x200m relay team but now has found a new lease of life and is going full Throssell off pool deck.
 


Dolphin relay stalwart Brianna Throssell announced her retirement today, calling time on a career that has included 39 international medals.

 

The 29-year-old, who on Tuesday will start employment with Deloitte’s Mergers and Acquisitions team in Melbourne, toyed with the idea of another World Championships in Singapore this year and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2026.

But after Paris gold; a European summer; an engagement to long-time partner Josh Milner and the opportunity to finally put her business degree to “good use”, Throssell said it was time to look beyond the blocks.
 


Flying under the radar, Brianna is one of the MVPs across the Dolphins relay teams for the past decade – her four Olympic medals all come from relays – and her staggering haul of 18 World Championships medals are also all from relays except her long-service reward of a bronze medal in the women’s 200m free in Doha last year that was a precursor to an outstanding Paris campaign.


 
“I just knew it was time. I’ll forever cherish the memories, friendships, and experiences … it’s been an incredible journey but now I am ready for a new chapter. The lessons I’ve learned—about perseverance, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence—will remain with me as I move forward but I am ready, and it was so so wonderful to finish the way I did, I couldn’t have asked for a better career finale. I still love the sport and really want to inspire the next generation because truly, swimming has taught me so much. I have so many people to thank … but to my parents and Dean (Boxall), to Josh (Milner) and all the Dolphins … thank you. I just feel so grateful.”
 


Coach Dean Boxall has described Brianna as the “unsung hero” of the Australian swimming team, to which head Dolphins coach Rohan Taylor added:

“Brianna has just contributed so much to this Dolphins swim team. She is a swimmer that just kept pushing and really found a way to get better. Bri will probably say her gold in Paris was a highlight. But for me her individual medal in Doha was something special. It was a just reward for a true professional. She moved from Western Australia to the Sunshine Coast and then to Dean (Boxall) at St Peters and she just worked so hard – her PB for the 100m and 200m free came at the Paris Olympic Trials and that was at the age of 28, it just showed her professionalism and work ethic.
 
And I know other athletes have commented that just seeing her in a marshalling room for relays just gave them so much confidence. I would like to congratulate Brianna on a fabulous career and wish her all the best from all of us at Swimming Australia.”
 


Throssell burst on to the swimming scene at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, where she won seven bronze medals. Her impressive haul included individual bronze in the 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 200m butterfly events.
 
After winning the silver medal at the 2016 Australian National Championships, Brianna made her Olympic debut in Rio 2016.
 
Brianna came third in both her 200m butterfly heat and semi-final, qualifying for her first Olympic final. In the final, she swam 2:07.87 to finish eighth.
 


At the 2021 Australian National Championships, Brianna claimed the national title in the 200m butterfly, with a time of 2:07.20, which qualified her for her second Olympic Team.
 
At the Tokyo Games, she placed eighth in the final of the 200m butterfly. But it was in the relays that she shone through, winning gold in the 4x100m medley relay and bronzes in the 4x200m freestyle and the mixed medley.
 

The talented West Australian carried her form through to 2022 when she again helped Australia to World Championships, swimming as a relay alternate in the 4x100m freestyle relay. But she took her place the Dolphins quartets for the finals of the 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays in which Australia took bronze.
 


She also swam in the heats of the 4x100m mixed medley relay in which Australia placed second behind the USA.
 
 Fast forward to Fukuoka Worlds and Throssell was part of the Australian team that claimed gold in world record time in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
 
As far as asset acquisitions go; Deloitte: you’ve got a good one here – one that will create value for your shareholders and one that Swimming Australia will greatly miss.
 
 


Career Snapshot

• Brianna Throssell made her international debut at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China, winning seven bronze medals. 
• Later that year, at 18, she made her senior Australian Swim Team debut at the 2014 World Swimming Championships (25m) in Doha, helping secure bronze in the women’s 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.
• In 2018, at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, she won gold in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 100m butterfly.
• At the 2019 World Championships in South Korea, she claimed two relay golds: the women’s 4x200m freestyle (Oceania Record: 7:41.50) and the 4x100m freestyle (Championship Record: 3:30.21), alongside two silver medals in the 4x100m medley and mixed 4x100m freestyle relays.
• Brianna qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, winning the 200m butterfly and finishing second in the 100m butterfly at the Australian Trials. At Tokyo, she earned gold in the women's 4x100m medley relay and two bronze medals (women's 4x200m freestyle and mixed 4x100 medley).
• At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, she won individual bronze in both the 100m and 200m butterfly.
• In 2023, Brianna contributed to the world-record-breaking women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team at the Fukuoka World Championships (7:37.50).
• At the 2024 Doha World Championships, she earned her first individual World Championship medal (bronze in the 200m freestyle), bringing her World Championships career tally to six golds, nine silvers, and three bronzes.
• At 28, Brianna capped off her remarkable Dolphins career with an Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games, as part of the Australian women's 4x200m freestyle relay finals team who won the event for the first time since 2008 in an Olympic record time of 7:30.08.
• Throssell, Western Australia’s most decorated Olympic swimmer, was awarded an Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.