Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 12:37 PM

Swimmer Stephanie Rice will carry the Australian flag in tomorrow's closing ceremony of the Olympic Games after starring with three gold medals in Beijing.

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) head John Coates says Rice's brilliant display at the Water Cube was the standout Australian performance of the Games.

Rice says she is surprised she was chosen for the honour.

"He said, I'd really like for you to be the flag bearer and I just thought, oh my gosh. I never even saw that coming at all," she aid.

"I feel so honoured to be given this role and I guess I'm really looking forward to it.

"Because I didn't get to go to the opening ceremony I was really looking forward to going to the closing but now even more so."

Mr Coates says Rice's performance in the pool set the mood for the entire Olympic team.

"That is in recognition of her sensational performance winning two individual and one relay event in the swimming in the first week," he said.

"All of that was very, very important for the encouragement and setting the mood for our team as a whole, the performance of the swimmers in winning 20 medals, and Stephanie leading the way in that regard."