| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 13 August 1992 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Stroke(s) | Freestyle Breaststroke |
Louise Watkin (born 13 August 1992 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a British Paralympic swimmer. She came to the UK in 1996. She was born with Upper Limb Deficiency, and is missing her left hand. After trying out several sports and activities as a child,she settled on swimming at the age of 12.
Her first major competition was the World Championships in Durban,South Africa in 2006, and since then she has competed in the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008,the European Championships in Reykjavik in 2009, and also the World Short Course Championships in Rio (also in 2009).
At the Beijing Paralympics, despite being only just 16, she won 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.[1]
As of 28 June 2010, Louise is ranked no 1 in the world in 50m freestyle, 100m breastroke and 100m freestyle.
She is also ranked 3rd in the 200m IM,4th in the 400m freestyle, 7th in the 100m backstroke, and 11th in the 100m butterfly.
Between 15 and 21 August 2010, she competed in the World Championships, in Eindhoven, Netherlands,where she became world champion in 50m freestyle,beating world record holder Natalie Du Toit.She also won a silver medal in the 200m IM,100m breaststroke,and the 4x100m freestyle relay(34pts).Louise also won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle.
She is the European record holder for 50m freestyle (29.21 secs),and the 100m freestyle (1 min 03.07 secs).
She is based in Merstham, near Redhill, Surrey, and her local club is Redhill and Reigate Swimming Club.