Rebecca Redfern

Last updated

Rebecca Redfern
MBE
Redfern Rio2016.jpg
Redfern at the Rio2016 Paralympics
Personal information
NicknameBecky
National team Great Britain
Born (1999-12-19) 19 December 1999 (age 24)
Droitwich Spa, England
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Breaststroke
Classifications S13, SB13, SM13
ClubWorcester Swimming Club
CoachMark Stowe
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100m Breaststroke SB13
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2020 Tokyo 100m Breaststroke SB13
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 London 100m breaststroke SB13
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Manchester 100m breaststroke SB13
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Madeira 100m breaststroke SB13
European Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Funchal 100m Breaststroke SB13
GB Para Swimming International
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Glasgow 100m Breaststroke MC
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2022 Aberdeen 100m Breaststroke MC
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2016 Glasgow 100m Breaststroke MC
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2023 Sheffield 100m Breaststroke MC

Rebecca Katharine Redfern MBE (born 19 December 1999) is a British visually impaired para-swimmer from Droitwich who competes in S13/SB13/SM13 disability categories. She has held British, European and World records in SB13 100m breaststroke.

Contents

Personal life

Rebecca Redfern is the daughter of Katharine and Steve Redfern, and has three brothers, Anthony, Matthew and Nathan, all of whom have also swum competitively. Rebecca attended sixth form at Droitwich Spa High School where she studied A Levels in Maths, Business, and Psychology, and has subsequently graduated from the University of Worcester with an honours degree in Primary Initial Teacher Education.

When Rebecca was 7 she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, and now has grossly impaired visual fields with no peripheral vision and poor frontal vision.

Rebecca is a member of Worcester Swimming Club and trains up to 16 hours per week in the pool plus four hours in the gym. She represents Worcester Swimming Club at club, county, regional and national level, as well as representing her country at international level.

In September 2019, Rebecca's life started a major cycle of change when she discovered she was pregnant, and in fact had been in the early stages of pregnancy when winning World Championship gold in London. In July 2020, almost 3 weeks after his due date, baby Patrick was born. This didn't keep Rebecca out of the water though, and 8 weeks after the birth she was back onto the training programme at Worcester, albeit a reduced programme due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She took a difficult decision to defer the latter stages of her university degree to focus on swimming, targeting qualification for the Tokyo Paralympics.

Alongside her successes in the pool, Rebecca has undertaken a significant programme of voluntary work throughout Worcestershire schools and societies, generally meeting with children under her strapline of "Inspiring the current and next generations". Since 2016, Rebecca has attended over 100 events, either opening new facilities, handing out medals at sports events, talking in school assemblies, or contributing to campaign videos. It is estimated that through this voluntary work, she will have reached in excess of 10,000 school children in various capacities.

Rebecca is also the very proud patron of Worcestershire charity Sight Concern.

In the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, Rebecca was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to young people and to the community in Worcestershire. [1]

Swimming career

Rebecca has been a competitive swimmer since age 9 but didn't enter the para-swimming world until 14 when she was spotted by the British Swimming Vision for Rio programme in September 2014.

On 3 May 2016 Rebecca made her international debut at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships in Funchal, Portugal, claiming a silver medal and narrowly missing out on gold to Elena Krawzow (Germany) by 0.02 seconds. [2]

Rebecca achieved the consideration time for the 2016 Rio Paralympics at the 2016 British Para-Swimming International Meet in Glasgow, UK where she set a new world record of 1:16.86 in the process, beating the one set 14 years previously by Kirby Cote of Canada. [3]

She made her Paralympic debut when she represented Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She swam a time of 1:13.81 which was over two seconds inside her own world record, although she finished second behind Fotimakhon Amilova of Uzbekistan who set a new world record of 1:12.45. [4] Rebecca's time also claimed the Worcestershire county record as an able bodied swimmer, and the IPC European record.

2017 was a frustrating year for Rebecca, when having achieved the British Swimming qualifying standard for the Para Swimming World Championships at the GB Summer National Championships in Sheffield in July 2017, the Mexican earthquake disaster meant that the Para Swimming World Championships were postponed, and British Swimming elected not to send a team to the rescheduled event. However Rebecca was able to end the year well by breaking the short course world record for SB13 100m Breaststroke when she swam 1:14.80 at the Short Course Para Nationals in Manchester in December, beating the previous mark set by Kirby Cote of Canada in 2002.

2018 was equally frustrating. Rebecca qualified for the European Championships in Dublin, however the SB13 100m Breaststroke event was demoted to a non medal event due to limited number of entrants. Rebecca won the non medal event in a time of 1:15.99, her best since Rio.

In April 2019, Rebecca qualified for the 2019 Para Swimming World Championships. [5] This event was originally planned for Malaysia, but due to political reasons it needed a new venue. Luckily for British athletes the revised venue was eventually determined to be London during September 2019. [6] where the swimmers would return to the scene of the hugely successful 2012 London Paralympics. At the World Championships, Rebecca experienced her first taste of international glory when she beat Colleen Young of USA into second place to take the gold medal and title of world champion. [7]

Having taken time out following the birth of baby Patrick in July 2020, Rebecca's return to training was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, however with assistance from Bedfordshire Hot Tubs and the short term lease of a Swim Spa, she was able to continue her training in the garden at home whilst waiting for pools to re-open. This helped her prepare for the British Para Swimming International Meet in Sheffield in April 2021 where she swam inside the GB consideration time for the Tokyo Paralympics [8] in the heat of the SB13 100m Breaststroke, and then bettered that performance in the final, swimming a time of 1:18.28, a full three seconds below the consideration time. Rebecca then had three months in a restricted club programme to prepare for the Paralympic Games in August 2021, having had her selection confirmed at the end of June 2021. [9]

Rebecca's Paralympic success continued at the Tokyo2020 games when she qualified for the final of the SB13 100m Breaststroke in second place behind Elena Krawzow of Germany, and then finished in the silver medal position behind Krawzow in a thrilling final that saw Rebecca break the SB13 50m Breaststroke World Record with a time of 00:33.70 for the opening 50m of the race, finishing with a time of 1:14.10 for the second fastest time of her career. [10]

In June 2022, Rebecca attended the ParaSwimming World Championships in Funchal where she swam the SB13 100m Breaststroke achieving a bronze medal after placing third behind Coleen Young and Elena Krawzow. She followed this with an appearance at the Commonwealth Games in her less favoured S13 50m Freestyle where she placed 5th in the final. She also had the honour of carrying the Queen's Baton on a Dragon Boat along the River Severn in Worcester during the Queen's Baton Relay in the build up to the Games.

2023 saw Rebecca return to World Championship competition in the UK at the Manchester event in August. Although she was not able to better the championship record that she set in London in 2019, her time of 1:15.01 was enough to take gold and reclaim her title of World Champion, beating Coleen Young into second place. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Long</span> Russian-American Paralympic swimmer

Jessica Tatiana Long is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winning 29 medals. She has won over 50 world championship medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prue Watt</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Prue Watt, is a Paralympic swimming gold medalist from Australia. She has represented Australia at the four Paralympics from 2004 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teigan Van Roosmalen</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer (born 1991)

Teigan Van Roosmalen is an Australian Paralympic S13 swimmer. She has Usher Syndrome type 1 legally blind and Profoundly deaf. She had a swimming scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport 2009-2012. Her events are the 100 m breaststroke, 200 m individual medley, 50 m and 100 m freestyle. She competed at the 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships in Edmonton, where she won a gold medal in the S13 400 freestyle event. She competed at the 2008 Summer and 2012 Summer Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Russo</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Sean Russo is an Australian swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanya Huebner</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Tanya Huebner is an Australian swimmer. She has represented Australia at the 2012 London and the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 IPC Swimming European Championships</span> European Swimming Competition held in 2014

The 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from the 4th to the 10th of August. Around 375 athletes from 35 different countries attended. The venue, the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium, also held the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Beecroft</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Emily Beecroft is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics,2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has been selected for 2024 Summer Paralympics. She won a silver and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiffany Thomas Kane</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Tiffany Thomas Kane, is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, winning a gold and three bronze medals, and at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a further two bronze medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paige Leonhardt</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Paige Leonhardt is an Australian swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won a silver medal. She has been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Eleanor "Ellie" Robinson is an English swimmer. Competing in SB6 and S6 classification events, Robinson holds the World record and the Paralympic record in the S6 50m butterfly and the World record in the 100m, setting both at the age of 13.

Tharon Drake is an American Paralympic swimmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Bekric</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Liam Bekric is an Australian Paralympic swimmer with a vision impairment. Bekric represented Australia for the first time at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Meyers</span> American Paralympic swimmer

Rebecca Meyers is a Paralympic swimmer of the United States. She won three gold and one silver medals in Rio 2016. She was also a member of the 2012 Paralympic Team, and won a silver and bronze in London. Rebecca Meyers has also competed at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Taiwan, which is also her only appearance at the Deaflympics. She also clinched a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay event in the 2009 Summer Deaflympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKenzie Coan</span> American Paralympic swimmer

McKenzie Coan is an American swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she swam the 400m Freestyle in the S8 category. Coan was one of four S8 category swimmers chosen to compete for Team USA at the games. She later had her breakout games in the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where she would go on to win 3 gold medals in the category S7 50, 100, and 400M Freestyle races, with an additional silver medal in the 34-point women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle relay. In the process of getting her gold medal in the 50M Freestyle she also set a new Paralympic Record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oksana Khrul</span> Ukrainian Paralympic swimmer

Oksana Khrul is a Ukrainian para-swimmer, competing in S6, SM6 and SB7 categories.

Nicole Turner, of Portarlington, Laois, is an Irish para-swimmer, competing mainly in the S6, short stature category.

Elena Krawzow is a blind German Paralympic swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle. She has macular degeneration, leaving her with only 3% vision.

Zara Mullooly is a British Paralympic swimmer who competes in International level freestyle events. She is British Record holder in 50m, 100m, 200m, and 400m freestyle for the S10 classification. Zara has congenital right side hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.

References

  1. "Para swimmer Rebecca Redfern wins MBE in King's honours list". Worcester News . 14 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  2. "Ryabova takes down 50m freestyle S10 world record". 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. Hudson, Elizabeth (24 April 2016). "Paralympic trials: Rebecca Redfern & Aaron Moores break world records". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. "Rio rains medals on day four in the pool". British Swimming. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  5. "Great Britain unveil team for World Para Swimming Champs". British Swimming. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  6. "World Para-swimming Championships: London to host after Malaysia stripped of event". 15 April 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  7. "Great Britain continues charge with solid swims". British Swimming. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  8. "Redfern qualifies on return after baby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  9. "ParalympicsGB names 23 swimmers bound for Tokyo 2020". British Swimming. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  10. "'Dream come true' for Redfern as she wins Paralympic silver". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  11. "Tai and Redfern return to the top on home turf". British Swimming. Retrieved 2 August 2023.