Nyree Kindred

Nyree Kindred
Personal information
Full name Nyree Elise Kindred
Nationality Welsh
Born (1980-09-21) 21 September 1980
Rhondda, Wales
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Club Leominster Kingfisher[1]

Nyree Elise Kindred MBE (née Lewis; born 21 September 1980 in Rhondda, Wales)[2] is a Welsh swimmer who has competed in the Paralympic Games on four occasions winning ten medals.

Early life

Kindred took up swimming at the age of 5, having been taken to a swimming pool by her aunt.[3] Kindred has a form of cerebral palsy and therefore competes in the S6 (butterfly, backstroke, freestyle), SM6 (medley) and SB5 (breaststroke) classifications.[4][5]

Paralympic career

Kindred's first appearance at a Paralympics came at the 2000 Games in Sydney, where she won 3 medals, 2 silver and a bronze.[6]

At the 2004 Summer Paralympics Kindred won her first Paralympic gold medal in the S6 100 metres backstroke event,[7] in a new Paralympic record time of 1:32.03.[8] She followed this up with another gold in the 4×50 m medley 20 pts relay, silver medals in both the 100 m breaststroke SB5[9] and 200 m SM6 individual medley, and a bronze in the 400 m freestyle S6.[6]

In the 100 metres S6 backstroke at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing Kindred was beaten into second place by Dutch swimmer Mirjam de Koning-Peper. Kindred explained her defeat by saying "My legs were spasming, but to be honest, there are no excuses for that, ... I should have gone quicker but it just wasn't there tonight".[10] In addition to this medal winning performance Kindred also reached the finals of the 100 m breaststroke SB5 (finishing 4th), 200 m SM6 individual medley (finishing 6th) and 400 m freestyle S6 (finishing 6th). In April 2012 she qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the S6 100m backstroke.[11] In the final she finished second to collect the silver medal with a time of 1:26.23.[12]

On top of her success at the Paralympics, Kindred has won seven International Paralympic Committee World Championship medals and seven European Championship medals.[1]

Personal life

Kindred's husband is fellow British Paralympic gold medal winning swimmer Sascha Kindred. Together the pair, who live in Herefordshire,[13] are known as the "golden couple" of British disability swimming.[14][15] The couple's first child, Ella, was born in 2011.[16] Kindred was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.[17]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "British Swimming and the asa: Nyree Lewis". British Swimming. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "Athlete Biography". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Nyree Lewis Interview". Parasport.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "Athlete Biography". Sports Council of Wales website. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  6. 1 2 Results for Nyree Lewis from the International Paralympic Committee
  7. ↑ "Lewis sparks double celebration". BBC Sport. 21 September 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "Lewis delight at first gold". BBC Sport. 21 September 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "Lewis claims third medal". BBC Sport. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  10. ↑ "Kindred claims fifth gold in pool". BBC Sport. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  11. ↑ "Welsh athletes that have been selected for the 2012 Paralympics in London". BBC Sport. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  12. ↑ Pearce, Nick (30 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Nyree Kindred claims silver for GB moments before 16-year-old Hannah Russell follows suit". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Prime, Richard. "Herefordshire Paralympian Sascha Kindred's Royal date". Hereford Times. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  14. ↑ "Paralympic challengers: Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis". BBC Sport. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  15. ↑ "Kindred joining Lewis in glory bid". Worcester News. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  16. ↑ "Sascha and Nyree Kindred are the proud parents of baby daughter Ella Rhiannon". Hereford Times. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "No. 59090". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2009. p. 19.
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