Swimming great Liesel Jones pays tribute to ‘supportive’ ex-husband after going public with marriage split: ‘It wasn’t a bitter divorce’

Olympic great Liesel Jones surprised her fans last year when she announced during her Triple M radio program that her marriage was on the rocks.

And now the 35-year-old swimming champion has revealed intimate details about why she went public with her divorce from husband of five years, Damon Martin.

The beloved athlete said she made the brave decision to expose her private life because she wanted to have control over her own story.

And as a public figure, she didn’t want to be forced to “lie” about the breakup.

Liesel made the candid admission during an interview on the latest episode of Stellar Magazine Something to talk about podcast.

“I made sure to ask Damo [Martin] first before we reveal the news,” she explained during her conversation.

She continued, “This was a while later; we were healed a little. I wasn’t going to share information he wasn’t comfortable with, and if he had said no, I would have respected that.

‘But I didn’t want to lie either. It was going to come out someday, and when I was in front of it, I could control the story and how I told it. It wasn’t an acrimonious divorce.’

During the interview, she paid tribute to her ex in support.

Liesel surprised her fans last year when she announced during her Triple M radio show that her marriage was on the rocks. Pictured: Liesel with Damon Martin in 2018

Liesel rose to fame as an Olympic swimmer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In the photo: Liesel holds her gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke that she won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

“I’m in the public eye and people ask questions and it meant I could move on, I could be open and honest about dating,” she said.

“Imagine if someone saw I was on Bumble and said, ‘Wait a minute, aren’t you married?’

In the latest issue of Stellar, the Olympic gold medal champion looks glamorous in the magazine as she poses in a blue denim skirt with matching matching shirt.

It comes after Leisel opened up about her dating life and her experience with matchmaking apps on her radio show last month.

Leisel confirmed she is back on the dating scene and recently lowered her age range through matchmaking app Bumble.

Leisel and Martin married in August 2018 at the luxurious Peppers resort in the NSW town of Bowral, with the ceremony taking place less than a year after they got engaged.

On Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam & Dobbo, she explained how she has landed 50 new matches since changing her age group from 35-45 to 25-35.

“I changed it yesterday, I already had fifty new people, fifty new matches in that age group,” she revealed.

“The dating pool is very difficult. It’s very difficult to go through people my age.”

‘I went from the big deep end in the big pool to the small children’s pool!’ she joked.

It comes after Leisel announced the ‘incredibly sad’ news that she had split from her husband of five years, Damon, last year.

During her Triple M radio show in November, she told listeners that they had quit after “proving that we are better off going our own way.”

‘We broke up. It is incredibly sad news,” she shared in an emotional announcement at the time.”

Leisel and Martin married in August 2018 at the luxurious Peppers resort in the NSW town of Bowral, with the ceremony taking place less than a year after they got engaged.

“I can’t cook my chops as well as Damo used to, and I miss that,” she continued.

‘I’m aware that I’m 38, single now, have no children and I may have missed that window, so that’s a bit scary.

‘It’s really a big adjustment to do things alone. Damo is such a great guy, a great guy. We are both extremely heartbroken.”

Read more in the new issue of Stellar Magazine