Kirsty Coventry
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| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Zimbabwe |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women’s Swimming | |||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | 200m Backstroke | |
| Silver | 2004 Athens | 100m Backstroke | |
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | 200m Individual Medley | |
Kirsty Leigh Coventry (born September 16, 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer. Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, she attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Greece, Coventry won three olympic medals, a gold, a silver, and a bronze.
At Auburn, Coventry helped lead the Tigers to NCAA Championships in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, she was the top individual scorer at the NCAA Championships and captured three individual titles including the 200 and 400 individual medley (IM), and the 200 backstroke for the second consecutive season. She was named the College Swimming Coaches Association Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts. Other awards include 2005 SEC Swimmer of the Year, the 2004-2005 SEC Female Athlete of the Year, and the 2005 Honda Award Winner for Swimming.
In 2000, while in still in high school, Coventry became the first Zimbabwe swimmer to reach the semifinals at the Olympics and was named Zimbabwe's Sports Woman of the Year.
At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Kirsty improved on her 2004 Olympic medal count by winning gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke and silver in the 200m and the 400m IM. She bettered her Olympic gold-winning 200m backstroke time with a performance of 2:08.52. Although she was one of just two swimmers from Zimbabwe, her performance allowed her country to rank third in the medal count by nation. In addition Kirsty picked up the female swimmer of the meet honours.
[edit] 2005 World Championship medals
- Gold in the 100-meter backstroke (1:00.24)
- Gold in the 200-meter backstroke (2:08.52)
- Silver in the 200-meter IM (2:11.13)
- Silver in the 400-meter IM (4:39.72)
[edit] 2004 Olympic medals
- Bronze in the 200-meter IM (2:12.72) - Zimbabwe's second Olympic medal
- Gold in the 200-meter backstroke (2:09.19)
- Silver in the 100-meter backstroke (1:00.50)
[edit] External links
| Olympic champions in women's 200 m backstroke |
|---|
| 1968: Lilian Watson | 1972: Melissa Belote | 1976: Ulrike Richter | 1980: Rica Reinisch | 1984: Jolanda de Rover | 1988: Krisztina Egerszegi | 1992: Krisztina Egerszegi | 1996: Krisztina Egerszegi | 2000: Diana Mocanu | 2004: Kirsty Coventry |
