Sophie Pascoe

Sophie Pascoe

Personal information
Full name	Sophie Frances Pascoe
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1993-01-08) 8 January 1993 Christchurch, New Zealand
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Medal record Paralympic Games 2008 Beijing 100 m backstroke S10 2008 Beijing 100 m breaststroke SB9 2008 Beijing 200 m individual medley SM10 2012 London 100 m freestyle S10 2012 London 100 m butterfly S10 2012 London 200 m individual medley SM10 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly S10 2012 London 50 m freestyle S10 2012 London 100 m backstroke S10 2012 London 100 m breaststroke SB9 IPC World Championships 2010 Eindhoven 100 m butterfly S10 2013 Montreal 100 m backstroke S10 2013 Montreal 100 m breaststroke SB9 2013 Montreal 100 m butterfly S10 2013 Montreal 100 m freestyle S10 2015 Glasgow 200 m medley SM10 2015 Glasgow 100 m freestyle S10 2015 Glasgow 100 m butterfly S10 2010 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle S10 2010 Eindhoven 100 m backstroke S10 2010 Eindhoven 200 m individual medley SM10 2015 Glasgow 100 m backstroke S10 2006 Durban 200 m individual medley SM10 2010 Eindhoven 100 m breaststroke SB9 2015 Glasgow 50 m breaststroke S10 2015 Glasgow 100 m breaststroke S10 IPC World Championships – 25 m 2009 Rio de Janeiro 100 m backstroke S10 2009 Rio de Janeiro 100 m butterfly S10 2009 Rio de Janeiro 100 m individual medley SM10 2009 Rio de Janeiro 200 m individual medley SM10 2009 Rio de Janeiro 100 m freestyle S10 2009 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle S10 2009 Rio de Janeiro 100 m breaststroke SB9 Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow 100 m breaststroke SB9 2014 Glasgow 200 m individual medley SB10

Sophie Frances Pascoe MNZM (born 8 January 1993)^[1] is a New Zealand Paralympic swimmer. She has won ten medals at the Summer Paralympics: four medals (three gold and one silver) in 2008 and six medals (three gold and three silver) in 2012.

Early life

Born in Christchurch on 8 January 1993 to Gary and Jo Pascoe, Sophie grew up on a lifestyle block near Halswell on the south-western outskirts of the city.^[2] She has one older sister, Rebecca. On 23 September 1995,^[3] Pascoe was accidentally run over by her father on the family ride-on lawnmower, resulting in both her legs being caught under the cutter deck housing in the path of the rotating mower blades. As a result of the accident, her left leg was to be amputated below the knee, while the rear of her right leg was left with severe scarring.^[2][4][5] She attended Halswell Primary School,^[2] and Lincoln High School in the nearby Christchurch satellite town of Lincoln.^[4]

Pascoe began swimming at age 7.^[2] She is coached by Roly Critchon,^[6] and trains at the QEII swim club, which has been based at Jellie Park in Burnside since the facilities at Queen Elizabeth II Park were damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.^[7]

International swimming career

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Pascoe won a gold and a silver medal for the 100 m breaststroke and 100 m butterfly respectively and later a gold for the women's 200 m individual medley.^[8] Pascoe then shared a gold medal for the 100 m backstroke when she drew with South African Shireen Sapiro.^[9] At 15 years of age, Pascoe was New Zealand's youngest athlete at the Paralympics,^[10] and the youngest ever New Zealander to win a medal.^[11]

Following the 2008 Paralympics, Pascoe was voted New Zealand's favourite Paralympian in a nationwide voting competition run by Mitsubishi Motors. For this she won a Mitsubishi VRX Outlander.^[12] Pascoe was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 New Year's Honours, for her services to swimming.^[13] In February 2012, Pascoe became the inaugural winner of the Disabled Sportsperson of the Year award at the 2011 Halberg awards.^[14]

At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Pascoe competed in six events – the four in which she won medals at the 2008 Paralympics, plus the 50m freestyle (S10) and 100m freestyle (SM10) events.^[5] She successfully defended her 200 m individual medley (SM10) gold medal, breaking her own world record by four seconds with a time of 2:25.65.^[15] She also won gold medals in the 100 m butterfly (S10), where she bettered her silver at Beijing and in the process setting a new world record with a time of 1:04.43,^[16] and in the 100 m freestyle (S10), setting a new Paralympic record with a time of 1:00.89.^[17] Pascoe won silver medals in the 50 m freestyle (S10),^[18] 100 m backstroke (S10),^[19] and 100 m breaststroke (SB9).^[20]

In March 2013 Pascoe broke her own world record for the 50m butterfly at the New Zealand Swimming Championships in Auckland, setting a time of 29.21 seconds.^[21][22]

Major achievements

• 2013: Winner of the Halberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
• 2012: Three gold medals (100 m freestyle-S10, 100 m butterfly-S10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); three silver medals (50 m freestyle-S10, 100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) – Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom; Winner of the Halberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year. Named as an ambassador for Beef and Lamb New Zealand.^[23]
• 2011: Winner of the Halberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
• 2010: Gold medal (100 m butterfly-S10); three silver medals (50 m freestyle-S10, 100 m backstroke-S10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); bronze medal (100 m breaststroke-SB9) – IPC World Championships, Eindhoven, Netherlands
• 2009: Four gold medals (100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m butterfly-S10, 100 m individual medley-SM10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); three bronze medals (100 m freestyle-S10, 400 m freestyle-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9) – IPC World Championships – 25 m, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 2008: Three gold medals (100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9, 200 m individual medley-SM10); Silver (100 m butterfly-S10) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) – Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
• 2006: Bronze (200 m individual medley-SM10) – IPC World Championships, Durban, South Africa

References