Sascha Kindred

Sascha Kindred OBE

Personal information
Full name	Sascha Kindred
Nationality	British
Born	13 December 1977 Münster, Germany
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Website	SaschaKindred.co.uk
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Club	Leominster Kingfisher[1]
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Paralympic Games 7 3 3 World Championships 8 3 5 European Championships 4 1 1 Total 19 7 9 Men's swimming Representing  Great Britain Paralympic Games 2000 Sydney 200 m medley SM6 2000 Sydney 100 m breaststroke SB7 2004 Athens 200 m ind. medley SM6 2004 Athens 100 m breaststroke SB7 2008 Beijing 200 m ind. medley SM6 2008 Beijing 100 m breaststroke SB7 2016 Rio 200 m ind. medley SM6 1996 Atlanta 100 m breaststroke SB7 2000 Sydney 4×100 m medley 34 pts 2012 London 200 m ind. medley SM6 2000 Sydney 4×50 m freestyle 20 pts 2004 Athens 4×50 m freestyle 20 pts 2008 Beijing 50 m butterfly S6 IPC World Championships 2002 Mar del Plata 100 m medley SB7 2002 Mar del Plata 200 m medley SM6 2002 Mar del Plata 4x100 m medley relay 34pts 2006 Durban 100 m medley SB7 2006 Durban 200 m medley SM6 2010 Eindhoven 200 m medley SM6 2013 Montreal 200 m medley SM6 2015 Glasgow 200 m medley SM6 1998 Christchurch 100 m breaststroke SB7 1998 Christchurch 200 m medley SM6 2010 Eindhoven 50 m butterfly S6 2002 Mar del Plata 4x50 m freestyle relay 20pts 2006 Durban 4x50 m medley relay 20pts 2006 Durban 50 m butterfly S6 2013 Montreal 100 m medley SB7 2015 Glasgow 50 m butterfly S6 IPC European Championships 2009 Reykjavik 100 m backstroke – SB7 2009 Reykjavik 50 m butterfly – S6 2009 Reykjavik 200 m ind. medley – SM6 2014 Eindhoven 50m butterfly S6 2009 Reykjavik 4x50m medley relay 20pts 2014 Eindhoven 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts

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

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]

See also

• Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
• List of Paralympic records in swimming
• Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
• Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
• Swimming at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
• Swimming at the 1996 Summer Paralympics

References

1. "British Swimming and the asa: Sascha Kindred". British Swimming. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
2. "Athlete Biography". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
3. "Q&A: Sascha Kindred". Disability Now magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-16. External link in |publisher= (help)
4. "Interview with Sascha Kindred". Total Swimming. Retrieved 2008-09-16. External link in |publisher= (help)
5. "Athlete Biography". University of Bath website. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
6. "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBCSport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
7. Results for sascha kindred from the International Paralympic Committee
8. "Kindred claims fifth gold in pool". BBC Sport. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
9. "Kindred clinches second pool gold". BBC Sport. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
10. "Official results of men's 50m butterfly – S6" (PDF). The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
11. Prime, Richard. "Herefordshire Paralympian Sascha Kindred's Royal date". Hereford Times. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
12. "Paralympic challengers: Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis". BBC Sport. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
13. "Kindred joining Lewis in glory bid". Worcester News. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
14. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58929. p. 10. 31 December 2008.

External links

• Official website
• British Swimming athlete profile
• 'The Golden Couple' — A blog written by Kindred's twin brother Timo Kindred detailing the progress of him and Nyree Lewis