Retirement
Leech retired after the Olympics at the age of 15. She was the first person from Bendigo to win an Olympic medal and was feted upon returning to her hometown. She regarded the experience of living in the Olympic Village as an unusual one; in addition to the large crowds and the pressure of an Olympics, it was the first time that she had been away from the family home. Physicians endorsed her decision to retire, feeling that she became too nervous prior to races. Leech briefly worked in Melbourne as a model, before returning to Bendigo to help run the family jewelry business. She took a leading role in the business after the death of her father in the 1970s, before handing control of the firm to her son.
Leech married Mitch Tuohy and had two sons, Adam and Troy, whom she discouraged from entering competitive swimming, fearing the pressure and strain of racing. In retirement, she shunned competitive sport, but maintained her fitness and athleticism. She taught swimming to disabled children, some of whom represented Australia at the Special Olympics.
Leech continued her involvement with the Olympic movement through volunteer work. In July 1999, Leech and Australia's then-oldest man and World War Iveteran Jack Lockett were the guests of honor at a countdown celebration to the arrival of the Olympic Torch in Bendigo in July 2000. In 2001, she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her neck, which was the size of a 50c coin. The tumor was removed in a seven-hour operation followed by six weeks of radiotherapy treatment. This experience prompted her to become a volunteer for the Cancer Council and help those who were diagnosed with the disease. In February 2003, Leech phoned quadruple Olympic champion Betty Cuthbert to comfort her during her recovery from a brain hemorrhage. In October 2006, Leech combined with 1956 teammate John Devitt to launch "50 Years On—The Melbourne Olympics", a series of stamps from the Australia Post.
Leech is an inductee of the Path of Champions at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
Read more about this topic: Faith Leech
Famous quotes containing the word retirement:
“The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can make leisure fruitful.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Convent. A place of retirement for women who wish for leisure to meditate upon the sin of idleness.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
“Douglas. Now remains a sweet reversion—
We may boldly spend, upon the hope
Of what is to come in.
A comfort of retirement lives in this.
Hotspur. A rendezvous, a home to fly unto.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)