Craig Stevens

Craig Julian Stevens (born 23 July 1980) is an Australian former freestyle swimmer specialising in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Stevens was the bronze medallist in the 1500m freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, but he narrowly missed out on a medal in the 400m freestyle, finishing 4th. In 2004, Stevens made his Olympic Games debut at Athens. There, he won silver as part of the Australian 4×200m relay team and also made the final in the 1500m. He relinquished his place in the 400m freestyle for world record holder Ian Thorpe, who had been disqualified from the event at the Australian trials. Stevens was initially left out of the Australian team for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in his home country. However, Ian Thorpe had to withdraw from the games due to illness, which allowed Stevens to take Thorpe's place in the team. After qualifying as the fastest heat swimmer, he again came 4th in the 400m freestyle final. He also contested the 1500m freestyle final and finished in 6th place.