Heather Frederiksen

Heather Frederiksen
Personal information
Full name Heather Frederiksen
Nationality British
Born (1985-12-30) 30 December 1985
Leigh, Greater Manchester, England[1]
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st)[2]
Sport
Sport Swimming
Club City of Manchester Aquatics Swim Team[3]
Medal record
Competitor for  Great Britain
Women's swimming
Paralympic Games
2008 Beijing 100 m backstroke S8
2012 London 100 m backstroke S8
2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle S8
2008 Beijing 400 m freestyle S8
2012 London 400 m freestyle S8
2012 London 100 m freestyle S8
2012 London 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 pts
2008 Beijing 200 m ind. medley SM8
IPC European Championships
2009 Reykjavik 50 m freestyle – S8
2009 Reykjavik 100 m freestyle – S8
2009 Reykjavik 400 m freestyle – S8
2009 Reykjavik 100 m butterfly – S8
2009 Reykjavik 4×100 m medley relay 34 pts
2009 Reykjavik 200 m medley SM8
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 2 "Athlete Biography FREDERIKSEN Heather". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "British Swimming and the asa: Heather Frederiksen". British Swimming. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hart, Simon (11 September 2008). "Heather Frederiksen proves the doctors wrong with gold medal in Beijing". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "Paralympics 2012: Heather Frederiksen wins backstroke gold". Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Gold and world record for Frederiksen". Website of the British Paralympic Association. 2008–2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  6. ↑ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  7. ↑ "Medallists GBR – Great Britain". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "Frederiksen leads swimming charge". BBC Sport. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "Athlete Biography LONG Jessica". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  10. ↑ "ParalympicsGB's London 2012 medal roll of honour". BBC Sports. Retrieved 6 September 2012. Heather Frederiksen – Women's 100m Backstroke – S8. How she did it: Heather took her second medal of the Paralympics and her first gold with a time of 1:17.00, finishing a full 1.67 ahead of her nearest rival.
  11. ↑ "Heather Frederiksen – Events and results". london2012.com. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Heather Frederiksen and Louise Watkin split from coach and club". Nik Hope (BBC Sport). Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 25. 29 December 2012.
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