A beaming Stephanie Rice took to social media to share her excitement at becoming a fiancée.
The Australian swimming champion took to Instagram on Tuesday to gush about her new relationship status after announcing her engagement to pastor Mark Lassey earlier this month.
Stephanie, 36, shared a clip showing her happily walking to the gym in Abu Dhabi.
“Just on my first walk to the gym as a fiancé,” Stephanie exclaimed in the clip.
“Oh my God, guys, I’m never going to stop saying that, until I get married, of course.”
Laughing excitedly, Stephanie added that it felt like she had waited a lifetime to say “yes.”
“I feel like I’ve waited 35 years to be engaged,” she gushed. “I can’t even say it with a straight face.”
Stephanie was quick to thank her entourage of fans for the kind words and congratulations following the engagement announcement, adding that she would respond to everyone individually on her way back Down Under.
A beaming Stephanie Rice has taken to social media to share her excitement at becoming a fiancée. Pictured
“I haven’t even started responding to people yet, but please know that I haven’t forgotten you. I want to respond to each and every one of you,” she said.
“I’m flying to Australia tonight, so I’ll have plenty of time to respond to everyone on a 14-hour flight.”
The swimming legend, 36, took to Instagram earlier this month to confirm the happy news, just weeks after first going public with her romance with Mark in July.
She shared a series of sweet snaps from the moment Australian shepherd and father-of-three Mark popped the question at Dubai’s luxury Atlantis The Royal hotel.
The couple, who met about seven months ago, looked very happy as they smiled from ear to ear and shared a kiss, while Stephanie showed off her sparkling diamond.
The Australian swimming champion took to Instagram on Tuesday to reveal she can’t even say the word “fiancée” with a straight face after announcing her engagement to pastor Mark Lassey earlier this month.
In a caption, Stephanie wrote: ‘To new beginnings and second chances… Yes, to a life with you.’
He concluded the post with a Bible verse, writing: “Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you the desire of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
Their engagement comes just weeks after Stephanie made their romance public in an Instagram post in early July.
Stephanie had been quietly dating the Australian Shepherd for five months before officially confirming their romance.
They met through a mutual friend and then began a long-distance romance as Mark lives in Perth while Stephanie moved to Dubai in November.
“When we met almost 5 months ago, we both knew this was different,” she gushed in an Instagram post alongside cozy snaps of her and Mark.
‘From the beginning there was a deep intentionality between us, and due to the complexities of our lives we wanted to keep these first few months among family and close friends, and enjoy the wonder of falling in love.’
“Oh my gosh guys, I’m never going to stop saying that, until I get married of course,” she added. Stephanie is pictured with her fiancé Mark Lassey
“But, as God would have it, that first phone conversation made us feel that this was exactly the destiny we were both meant to have,” she continued before detailing their long-distance romance.
Stephanie, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, joined the church when she moved to Dubai late last year and is now heavily involved with Kingdom City.
Mark is a pastor of the same organization in Perth and has been with the church for over 10 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Kingdom City began in Perth in 2003 and has since gone global with branches in Africa, Europe and Asia, as well as the Middle East.
Stephanie was previously romantically involved with former soldier Dane Christison, whom she met at an Australian church.
The couple spent their holidays together in the United States during Christmas 2023, but she publicly announced their separation just a few months later, in May 2024.