Heather Frederiksen
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Leigh, Greater Manchester, England[1]
 Frederiksen at the 2009 IPC European Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Heather Frederiksen |
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 30 December 1985 Leigh, Greater Manchester, England[1] |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Club | City of Manchester Aquatics Swim Team[3] |
Medal record | |
Heather Frederiksen MBE (born 30 December 1985) is a retired British Paralympic swimmer. She is former world record holder in the women's S8 100 m backstroke, 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle and 400 m freestyle events. As of June 2017[update], she still holds European records in the S8 200 m and 400 m freestyle.[2][4] Frederiksen is a two time Paralympic champion in the 100m backstroke S8 classification, and has won eight Paralympic medals in all.[5]
Frederiksen was born in Leigh, England. She attended the Lowton Church of England High School for secondary school.[6]
Career
In 2004, prior to her accident, she won both the British 10 km Open Water Championship and 4.5 km British Grand Prix on the same day.[3]
Following her accident, Frederiksen returned to competition in the S8 (backstroke and freestyle), SB7 (breaststroke) and SM8 (medley) classifications. Her first senior para-swimming meet came at the 2007 German Open, in Berlin.[2][7]
In her first appearance at the British Championships in 2008 Frederiksen won two gold and two silver medals from her six events and set a number of national records.[2] At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, in Beijing, she competed in five events and won four medals.[8] Her first medal, a silver in the women's 100 m freestyle – S8 final on 8 September, was followed two days later by gold in the women's 100 m backstroke – S8 in a new IPC world record time of one minute 16.74 seconds.[9] A bronze medal was won by Frederiksen in the 200 m individual medley and her final medal of the games came with a silver in the 400 m freestyle. In her final event, the 50 m freestyle, she reached the final but finished in 7th position.[1] In all three races where Frederikson won silver or bronze medals it was American Jessica Long who won the gold medal.[10]
An in-competition drug test at the 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships found high levels of salbutamol in Frederiksen's bloodstream. Frederiksen is asthmatic, and had used the medication to abort a severe asthma attack. She received a 6 months doping ban, backdated to the day of the drug test, and had to forfeit the two medals she won later in the competition.[11][12]
The 2012 Summer Paralympics saw Frederiksen claim another gold medal in the 100 m backstroke S8,[13] along with silver medals in both the 400 m freestyle S8 and 100 m freestyle S8.[14]
In October 2012 Heather Frederiksen (and silver medallist Louise Watkin) left the city of Salford, according to BBC Sport, as a result of a breakdown in the relationship with coach John Stout.[15]
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to swimming.[16]
Frederiksen retired from competitive swimming in 2013, after becoming pregnant with her first child.[17][18]