“It is a great time to get involved in sport,” Olympian Nicole Livingstone told this masthead back in October last year as part of a careers feature.
Which turned out to be weird timing. Back then, the former swimmer was the AFL’s general manager of women’s sport and in charge of implementing Women’s Football Vision 2030.
Nicole Livingstone looking glam for last year’s AFLW awards night. Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“There are more opportunities on offer for women to have a career in footy, which is exciting,” Livingstone said. But not as it turned out, for her.
Just the following month Livingstone, a three-time Olympic medallist in backstroke, announced she was off, leaving after the AFLW grand final after seven seasons in the role.
So, what happened next?
Well, it turns out there was a clue in her other comments in the piece, when she said, “look at state sporting associations, they are a great way to cut your teeth and get experience.”
CBD has learnt that Livingstone has a shiny new gig, she is the new chief executive at the Victorian Institute of Sport, replacing Anne Marie Harrison who has left after 18 years.
The Institute sent 122 Victorian athletes to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, bringing home 23 medals; five gold, four silver and 14 bronze.
The VIS gig is a plus-change move for Livingstone. When the institute was established in 1990, one of the first recipients granted a scholarship for swimming was ... Nicole Livingstone.
But she still hasn’t achieved her childhood career ambition, which was to become a mounted officer in the Victoria Police.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.