SYDNEY — Triple Olympic gold medalist Libby Trickett is contemplating retirement and has announced she’ll take an extended break from competitive swimming.

The 24-year-old Australian, who won five gold medals at the 2007 world championships, released a statement Wednesday saying she had to reassess her future and whether she had the desire to keep training for the London 2012 Olympics.
“I am having a break at the moment and retirement is on my mind, but it is not something that I have confirmed,” Trickett, who was known as Libby Lenton until her marriage in 2007, said in the statement. “I love swimming and everything it has done for me. I will see where my head is at in a few months.”
Trickett was considering retirement after the Beijing Olympics but decided to switch coaches instead, moving from Brisbane, Queensland state, to Sydney.
She swam a personal best in the 100-meter freestyle at the world championships in Rome in July, but it was only good enough for a bronze. She also picked up a silver and a bronze in women’s relays but finished a major global meet without a gold for the first time since 2003.
Trickett improved her own shortcourse world record in the 100 freestyle at the Australian short course championships last month.