Heather Frederiksen

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Heather Frederiksen
Personal information
Full name Heather Frederiksen
Nationality British
Born (1985-12-30) 30 December 1985 (age 38)
Leigh, Greater Manchester, England[1]
Height Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Weight 69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st)[2]
Sport
Sport Swimming
Club City of Manchester Aquatics Swim Team[3]
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Women's swimming
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 100 m backstroke S8
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 100 m backstroke S8
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing 400 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2012 London 400 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2012 London 100 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2012 London 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 pts
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing 200 m ind. medley SM8
IPC European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 50 m freestyle – S8
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 100 m freestyle – S8
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 400 m freestyle – S8
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 100 m butterfly – S8
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 4×100 m medley relay 34 pts
Silver medal – second place 2009 Reykjavik 200 m medley SM8
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Reykjavik 100 m backstroke – S9

Heather Frederiksen MBE (born 30 December 1985 in Leigh, England) is a British paralympic swimmer. She is the current, and two time, Paralympic champion in the 100m backstroke S8 classification, and has won eight Paralympic medals in all.[4]

Injury

At the end of 2004 Frederiksen suffered a serious accident that left her with limited use of her right arm and leg, and the need to use a wheelchair. Her doctors told her she would never swim again, and when she tried she found herself swimming in circles.[3][5]

It was in 2006, whilst watching television coverage of the swimming events at the Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne, that Frederiksen decided she wanted to swim again. After her Paralympic success she said of the experience, "I saw Joanne Jackson win the gold in the 400 m and I just said to myself, 'I'm not ready to finish. I'll finish when I want to finish, not when someone else tells me to'"—she had previously competed against Jackson.[3]

Career

In 2004, prior to her accident, Frederiksen won both the British 10 km Open Water Championship and 4.5 km British Grand Prix on the same day.[3]

Frederiksen now competes in the S8 (backstroke and freestyle), SB7 (breaststroke) and SM8 (medley) classifications. Her first senior swim meet came at the 2007 German Open, in Berlin.[2][6]

In her first appearance at the British Championships in 2008 Frederiksen won two gold and two silver medals from her six events and set a number of national records.[2] At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, in Beijing, she competed in five events and won four medals.[7] Her first medal, a silver in the women's 100 m freestyle – S8 final on 8 September, was followed two days later by gold in the women's 100 m backstroke – S8 in a new IPC world record time of one minute 16.74 seconds.[8] A bronze medal was won by Frederiksen in the 200 m individual medley and her final medal of the games came with a silver in the 400 m freestyle. In her final event, the 50 m freestyle, she reached the final but finished in 7th position.[1] In all three races where Frederikson won silver or bronze medals it was American Jessica Long who won the gold medal.[9]

In addition to her 100 m backstroke world record Frederiksen is the current holder of the 50m freestyle world record, the 100 m freestyle world record, the 200 m freestyle world record and the 400 m freestyle world record, European records in the 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly, 100 m backstroke S8 classifications, and holds the British record in a total of six different events.[2]

The 2012 Summer Paralympics saw Frederiksen claim another gold medal in the 100 m backstroke S8,[10] along with silver medals in both the 400 m freestyle S8 and 100 m freestyle S8.[11]

In October 2012 Heather Frederiksen (and silver medallist Louise Watkin) left the City of Salford, according to BBC Sport, as a result of a breakdown in the relationship with coach John Stout.[12]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to swimming.[13]

Outside the pool, Frederiksen is a qualified driving instructor.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 25. 29 December 2012.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Heather_Frederiksen&oldid=715188780"