Sascha Kindred

Sascha Kindred CBE (born 13 December 1977 in Münster, Germany[2]) is a British swimmer who has competed in six Summer Paralympic Games, winning thirteen medals.

Sascha Kindred
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1977-12-13) 13 December 1977
Münster, West Germany
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
WebsiteSaschaKindred.co.uk
Sport
SportSwimming
ClubLeominster Kingfisher[1]
Medal record
Men's para swimming
Representing  Great Britain
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Paralympic Games 7 3 3
World Championships 8 3 5
European Championships 4 1 1
Total 19 7 9
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 200 m medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 100 m breaststroke SB7
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 200 m ind. medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 100 m breaststroke SB7
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 200 m ind. medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 100 m breaststroke SB7
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 200 m ind. medley SM6
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 100 m breaststroke SB7
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 4×100 m medley 34 pts
Silver medal – second place 2012 London 200 m ind. medley SM6
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney 4×50 m freestyle 20 pts
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens 4×50 m freestyle 20 pts
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing 50 m butterfly S6
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Mar del Plata 100 m medley SB7
Gold medal – first place 2002 Mar del Plata 200 m medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2002 Mar del Plata 4x100 m medley relay 34pts
Gold medal – first place 2006 Durban 100 m medley SB7
Gold medal – first place 2006 Durban 200 m medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2010 Eindhoven 200 m medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2013 Montreal 200 m medley SM6
Gold medal – first place 2015 Glasgow 200 m medley SM6
Silver medal – second place 1998 Christchurch 100 m breaststroke SB7
Silver medal – second place 1998 Christchurch 200 m medley SM6
Silver medal – second place 2010 Eindhoven 50 m butterfly S6
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Mar del Plata 4x50 m freestyle relay 20pts
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Durban 4x50 m medley relay 20pts
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Durban 50 m butterfly S6
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Montreal 100 m medley SB7
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Glasgow 50 m butterfly S6
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 100 m backstroke – SB7
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 50 m butterfly – S6
Gold medal – first place 2009 Reykjavik 200 m ind. medley – SM6
Gold medal – first place 2014 Eindhoven 50m butterfly S6
Silver medal – second place 2009 Reykjavik 4x50m medley relay 20pts
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Eindhoven 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts

Early life

Born in Germany, Kindred moved to Britain at the age of 3. He began swimming for a club at the age of 11. He attended Mossley Hollins High School and Kaskenmoor secondary school for a short period of time before going into training at local swimming clubs such as Oldham.[3]

Kindred has cerebral palsy, which affects the right side of his body.[4] He competes in the S6 (butterfly), SM6 (medley) and SB7 (breaststroke) classifications.[5][6]

Paralympic career

Sascha is one of the most successful Paralympic athletes ever, taking part in 6 Paralympic Games.

Kindred first competed at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and won a silver medal in the 100 m breaststroke SB7.[7] In May 2016 it has been announced that he will be representing Great Britain once more, and for the 6th time, in the Paralympic Games in Rio later in the year.

At the 2000 games in Sydney, Kindred won two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze. He described the games as his biggest sporting achievement so far.[3]

In the 2004 Athens Paralympics, Kindred won two gold medals, successfully defending the 100 m breaststroke SB7 and 200 m individual medley SM6 titles he had won in Sydney. He also won a bronze medal in the 4×50 m freestyle 20 pts.[7]

Kindred won his fifth Paralympic gold in the 200 m individual medley SM6 at the 2008 Games in Beijing, where he set a new world record time of 2:49.19 and earned the title for the third consecutive year.[8] He then won a second gold of the games, six titles overall, and set another world record of 1:22.18 in the 100 m breaststroke SB7.[9] The third medal he won was a bronze in the 50 m butterfly S6.[10] He went on to his fifth Paralympic Games in London where he won a silver medal in the 200m IM in a time of 2:41.50

In addition to his success in the Paralympics, Kindred has won 19 medals (9 gold) at IPC World Championships, 24 medals (9 gold) at European Championships, and a gold medal at the 2006 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.[5]

Personal life

Kindred's wife is fellow British Paralympic gold medal-winning swimmer Nyree Lewis. Together the pair, who live in Herefordshire,[11] are known as the "golden couple" of British disability swimming.[12][13]

He includes amongst his sporting heroes Eric Cantona, Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis,[3] and is a supporter of Manchester United.[4]

Kindred was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours[14] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to swimming.[15]

See also

References
  1. "British Swimming and the asa: Sascha Kindred". British Swimming. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  2. "Athlete Biography". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. "Q&A: Sascha Kindred". Disability Now magazine. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  4. "Interview with Sascha Kindred". Total Swimming. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. "Athlete Biography". University of Bath website. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  6. "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBCSport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  7. "Sascha Kindred". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.
  8. "Kindred claims fifth gold in pool". BBC Sport. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  9. "Kindred clinches second pool gold". BBC Sport. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  10. "Official results of men's 50m butterfly – S6" (PDF). The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  11. Prime, Richard. "Herefordshire Paralympian Sascha Kindred's Royal date". Hereford Times. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  12. "Paralympic challengers: Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis". BBC Sport. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  13. "Kindred joining Lewis in glory bid". Worcester News. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  14. "No. 58929". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2008. p. 10.
  15. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N9.
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