Heather Brand

Heather Brand (born 17 November 1982) is a Zimbabwean swimmer, who specialised in freestyle and butterfly events.[2] Brand had claimed a total of five medals (three silver and two bronze) at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria, and eventually represented her nation Zimbabwe in the 100 m butterfly at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[3][4] Apart from her medal treasury, Brand also established five long and short-course national records in all butterfly events at a major international competition, spanning three editions of the World Championships.[5][6]

Heather Brand
Personal information
Full nameHeather Brand
National team Zimbabwe
Born (1982-11-17) 17 November 1982
Harare, Zimbabwe
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, butterfly
ClubKing Aquatic Club (U.S.)
College teamLouisiana State University (U.S.)[1]
CoachSean Hutchison (U.S.)[1]
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Zimbabwe
All-Africa Games
Silver medal – second place 2007 Algiers 50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2007 Algiers 50 m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 2007 Algiers 100 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Algiers 100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Algiers 200 m butterfly

Brand competed for Zimbabwe in the women's 100 m butterfly at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She scored a solid Zimbabwean record of 1:00.61 to capture the 100 m butterfly crown and slide under the FINA B-cut (1:01.43) by nearly a full second at the All-Africa Games one year earlier.[4][7] Swimming on the outside in heat three, Brand wound up last in a disappointing 1:01.39 to round out the eight-female pack, over two seconds behind the leader Birgit Koschischek of Austria. Brand failed to advance to the semifinals, as she placed forty-second overall out of 49 swimmers in the prelims.[8]

Brand is the former captain of the LSU swimming team and a graduate of wildlife management at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[9] She is also a resident athlete of King Aquatic Club in Federal Way, Washington, where she trained with numerous world-class swimmers, including Margaret Hoelzer and Megan Jendrick of the United States (both of whom were Olympic medalists), and Svetlana Karpeeva, an individual medley specialist from Russia.[10][1]

References
  1. Olson, Casey (13 June 2008). "A dream comes true: Brand will swim at the Olympics". Federal Way Mirror. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Heather Brand". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  3. "Zimbabwean sports officials confident of Beijing Olympics". Xinhua News Agency. 2 August 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  4. Kausiyo, Petros (14 July 2007). "Zimbabwe: Another Medal for Country". The Herald. Zimbabwe: AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  5. "Swimmer Brand to represent country in Montreal". Tiger Sports Digest. 22 July 2005. Archived from the original on 26 December 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  6. Matiza, Collin (9 April 2008). "Zimbabwe: Coventry to Compete at Manchester World Champs". All Africa. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  7. "Olympic Cut Sheet – Women's 100m Butterfly" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 74. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. "Women's 100m Butterfly Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  9. Smith, Nick. "LSU swimmer to represent Zimbabwe in 2008 Olympics". CBS College Sports. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  10. Borzilleri, Meri-Jo (15 June 2008). "Olympic hopeful Margaret Hoelzer makes smooth transition onto King Aquatic squad". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
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