Lisa Curry

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Lisa Curry

| image = Lisa Curry (7715995860).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Curry in 2012

| fullname = Lisa Gaye Curry

| nicknames =

| national_team = {{flag icon|AUS}}

| strokes = Butterfly, medley, freestyle

| club =

| coach =

| collegeteam =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|5|15|df=y}}

| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{convert|1.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|62|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

| medaltemplates =

}}

Lisa Gaye Curry (born 15 May 1962), also known by her married name Lisa Curry-Kenny, is an Australian former competition swimmer.

Curry won seven gold, two silver and one bronze Commonwealth Games medals, and is the only Australian swimmer to have held Commonwealth and Australian records in every stroke except backstroke.

Curry was the chair of the National Australia Day Council from 2000 to 2008.

Swimming career

Curry's swimming ability was noticed at a young age and by the age of 12 was one of the fastest swimmers of her age in the world. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder,[http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/history/achievements/olympics AIS at the Olympics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606223207/http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/history/achievements/olympics |date= 6 June 2011 }} and won 15 national long course open titles.

From 1977 to 1992, Curry represented Australia 16 times. She competed in the 1980, 1984 and 1992 Olympics; the 1978 and 1982 World Championships; and the 1978, 1982 and 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Curry won seven gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze medal across three Commonwealth Games: a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay at Edmonton in 1978; three gold medals (100-metre butterfly, 200- and 400-metre individual medley) and a bronze (100-metre freestyle) at Brisbane in 1982; and four gold medals (100-metre butterfly, 50-metre freestyle, 4×100-metre freestyle relay, 4×100-metre medley relay) and one silver (100-metre freestyle) at Auckland in 1990.

After retiring from swimming, she competed in surf boat rowing competitions and outrigger canoe events, and her team won the World Championship Outrigger Canoe event in 1997.

Honours

On 31 December 1982, Curry was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire "in recognition of service to the sport of swimming".{{cite web|title=Lisa Gaye Curry MBE|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1088787|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=11 May 2013}} She was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.{{cite web|url=https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/lisa-curry/|title=Lisa Curry|publisher=Sport Australia Hall of Fame|access-date=25 September 2020}} At the 1994 Australia Day Honours, Curry was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia "in recognition of service to the sport of swimming".{{cite web|title=Lisa Gaye Curry-Kenny OAM|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/887370|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=11 May 2013}} On 14 July 2000, Curry was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for "her significant contribution as a competitor in swimming".{{cite web|title=Lisa Gaye Curry-Kenny|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/980785|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=11 May 2013}} On 1 January 2001, Curry was awarded the Centenary Medal for "service to Australian society through swimming and the National Australia Day Council".{{cite web|title=Lisa Curry|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1127893|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=11 May 2013}} At the 2008 Australia Day Honours, Curry was named as an Officer of the Order of Australia "for service to the community through encouraging national pride and identity, particularly through leadership of the National Australia Day Council."{{cite web|title=Lisa Gaye Curry-Kenny AO|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1137405|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=11 May 2013}} In 2009 Curry was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.{{cite web|title=Ms Lisa Curry OAM, AO MBE|url=https://www.qsport.org.au/news/17610/|work=Queensland Sport Hall of Fame|publisher=qsport.org.au|access-date=9 August 2022}}

Television

In 2011, Curry appeared as a celebrity contestant on the first season of Nine Network's Australian reality series The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. Curry was fired in the 6th task.{{cite web|title=Lisa Curry fired from Celebrity Apprentice Australia defends Deni Hines in row with Polly Porter|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/lisa-curry-reveals-celebrity-apprentice-romance/news-story/d70cb6d7a5b563e16e0cbb25ee12440e|publisher=news.com.au|access-date=12 March 2017|date=11 November 2011}}

She appeared in advertising campaigns for cruise liner P&O Cruises Australia and Uncle Tobys.

In January 2017, Curry was revealed as a celebrity contestant on the third season of Network Ten's Australian reality series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.{{cite web|title=Celebrities enter the jungle|url=http://www.popsugar.com.au/celebrity/Im-Celebrity-Get-Me-Out-Here-Celebrities-2017-42937412/amp|publisher=popsugar.com.au|access-date=30 January 2017|date=12 February 2017}} On 8 March 2017, Curry was the 9th celebrity eliminated from the series after 41 days in the jungle coming in 6th place.{{cite web|title=Lisa Curry voted out leaving five in I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/im-a-celebrity-down-to-just-five/news-story/e2b2770ab4ab6ed447b394d096ebee24|publisher=news.com.au|access-date=8 March 2017|date=8 March 2017}}

Curry was the subject of the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? aired on 9 June 2020.

Lisa was the subject of an episode of Australian Story, on the ABC, called The Deep End, which aired in June 2022.

In 2022, Curry appeared on the fourth season of The Masked Singer Australia as Caterpillar and was the second contestant to be revealed.{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Media |date=2022-08-08 |title=RECAP {{!}} LISA CURRY revealed as the Caterpillar on THE MASKED SINGER AUSTRALIA |url=https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2022/08/08/recap-lisa-curry-revealed-as-the-caterpillar-on-the-masked-singer-australia/ |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=TV Blackbox |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |title=Lisa Curry reveals emotional reason why she did The Masked Singer |url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/lisa-curry-masked-singer-033640446.html |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=au.news.yahoo.com |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |last=Whines |first=Emma |date=9 August 2022 |title=Olympic Athletes Second Celeb Revealed on The Masked Singer |url=https://themusic.com.au/news/olympic-athlete-second-celeb-revealed-masked-singer/pnqyuLu6vbw/09-08-22 |website=The Music}}

Business interests

Curry and former husband Grant Kenny co-own the Curry Kenny Aviation Group, which in 2009 owned approximately 60 aircraft.{{cite news|title=Lisa Curry-Kenny, Grant Kenny separating after 23 years of marriage|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,25554360-5013560,00.html|last=McCullough|first=James|date=29 May 2009|access-date=2009-05-30|work=The Courier-Mail}}

Curry has a partnership with Naturopath Jeff Butterworth in the company Happy Healthy YOU, featuring the products Happy Hormones, Happy Greens and Happy Turmeric. Happy Healthy You was launched in Australia in 2015 and has grown into resource for women dealing with hormonal conditions with over 65,000 women following Lisa's advice and taking the health supplements.

Personal life

Curry was married to Grant Kenny, former ironman surf lifesaver and Olympic bronze medallist, in 1986. Curry and Kenny separated in May 2009.{{cite news|author=AAP|author-link=Australian Associated Press|title=Sporting couple Curry and Kenny split|url=http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/sporting-couple-curry-and-kenny-split-20090529-bpgt.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=29 May 2009|access-date=2009-05-30}} They had three children together; Jaimi Lee, Morgan and Jett. Daughter Jaimi Lee Kenny died on 14 September 2020 at age 33, following a long illness.{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/daughter-of-lisa-curry-and-grant-kenny-dies-aged-33-20200914-p55vm1.html | title=Daughter of Lisa Curry and Grant Kenny dies aged 33 | work=The Sydney Morning Herald| date=2020-09-14 | access-date=2020-09-14}}

In 2008, Curry had a heart surgery operation to implant a defibrillator after being found to have an irregular heartbeat as a consequence of a viral infection.{{cite news|title=Emergency heart surgery for Lisa Curry-Kenny |url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=419285 |author=ninemsn staff |date=31 March 2008 |access-date=2009-03-31 |publisher=ninemsn |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002072619/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=419285 |archive-date= 2 October 2008 }}

In October 2016, Curry announced her engagement to entertainer Mark Andrew Tabone.{{cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/lisa-curry-announces-engagement/news-story/2dead558902beda7cdab71f9f31873ca | title=Lisa Curry announces engagement | publisher=Courier Mail | date=2016-10-31 | access-date=2020-09-14}} They married in May 2018.{{cite web|title=Lisa Curry marries Mark Tabone in secret Sunshine Coast ceremony | url=https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/lisa-curry-marries-mark-tabone-in-secret-sunshine-coast-ceremony/news-story/089c3372211b9655b818ffbeaa2be542 | publisher=Courier Mail |date=2018-05-13 | access-date=2020-09-14}}