Records were made to be broken Elka spent almost 7 years at the top of Australian swimming. A dual Olympian, she won Olympic silver in the 4 x 200m Freestyle relay in Athens 2004 and has come home with medals from World Championships, Commonwealth Games, the World Cup (Gold!) and Pan Pacific championships.   Elka has clocked both Australian and Commonwealth records including the Australian 400m Freestyle short course record, which she held for over five years. In 2001 she recorded the world’s fastest swim for the 200m Freestyle and was officially ranked Number 1 in the world. Between 2001-2004 she was consistently in the Top 3 in the world for both the 200m and 400m Freestyle. In 2003, Elka survived a month in hospital after being diagnosed with a worrying heart condition. Yet her positive mindset saw her win Gold in the 200m, 400m and 800m at the World Cup just a month after her release from hospital, marginally missing world record times.   Elka ended her swimming career with no less than 10 Australian Championship Gold medals (both long and short course). She came home with a medal from every meet in which she ever competed apart from Athens (when she finished 4th in the 4 x 200m relay).   Reflecting on ‘now and then’ Elka says: “I was so happy with everything I achieved in swimming and it’s still amazing to know I reached number one in the world for my pet discipline. I still remember the day I received that confirmation in my letterbox… I couldn’t actually believe it. Now it’s time to move on to new, exciting ventures and to take the opportunity to show everyone Elka Whalan (nee Graham) the person… not just the swimmer!”