Nyree Kindred

Nyree Elise Kindred MBE (née Lewis; born 21 September 1980 in Rhondda, Wales)[2] is a Welsh swimmer who has competed in the Paralympic Games on four occasions winning ten medals.

Nyree Kindred
Personal information
Full nameNyree Elise Kindred
NationalityWelsh
Born (1980-09-21) 21 September 1980
Rhondda, Wales
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Sport
SportSwimming
ClubLeominster Kingfisher[1]

Early life

Kindred took up swimming at the age of 5, having been taken to a swimming pool by her aunt.[3] Kindred has a form of cerebral palsy and therefore competes in the S6 (butterfly, backstroke, freestyle), SM6 (medley) and SB5 (breaststroke) classifications.[4][5]

Paralympic career

Kindred's first appearance at a Paralympics came at the 2000 Games in Sydney, where she won 3 medals, 2 silver and a bronze.[6]

At the 2004 Summer Paralympics Kindred won her first Paralympic gold medal in the S6 100 metres backstroke event,[7] in a new Paralympic record time of 1:32.03.[8] She followed this up with another gold in the 4×50 m medley 20 pts relay, silver medals in both the 100 m breaststroke SB5[9] and 200 m SM6 individual medley, and a bronze in the 400 m freestyle S6.[6]

In the 100 metres S6 backstroke at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing Kindred was beaten into second place by Dutch swimmer Mirjam de Koning-Peper. Kindred explained her defeat by saying "My legs were spasming, but to be honest, there are no excuses for that, ... I should have gone quicker but it just wasn't there tonight".[10] In addition to this medal winning performance Kindred also reached the finals of the 100 m breaststroke SB5 (finishing 4th), 200 m SM6 individual medley (finishing 6th) and 400 m freestyle S6 (finishing 6th). In April 2012 she qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the S6 100m backstroke.[11] In the final she finished second to collect the silver medal with a time of 1:26.23.[12]

On top of her success at the Paralympics, Kindred has won seven International Paralympic Committee World Championship medals and seven European Championship medals.[1]

Personal life

Kindred's husband is fellow British Paralympic gold medal winning swimmer Sascha Kindred. Together the pair, who live in Herefordshire,[13] are known as the "golden couple" of British disability swimming.[14][15] The couple's first child, Ella, was born in 2011.[16] Kindred was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.[17]

See also

Notes
  1. "British Swimming and the asa: Nyree Lewis". British Swimming. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  2. "Athlete Biography". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. "Nyree Lewis Interview". Parasport.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  4. "Athlete Biography". Sports Council of Wales website. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  5. "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  6. Results for Nyree Lewis from the International Paralympic Committee (archived)
  7. "Lewis sparks double celebration". BBC Sport. 21 September 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  8. "Lewis delight at first gold". BBC Sport. 21 September 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  9. "Lewis claims third medal". BBC Sport. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  10. "Kindred claims fifth gold in pool". BBC Sport. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  11. "Welsh athletes that have been selected for the 2012 Paralympics in London". BBC Sport. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  12. Pearce, Nick (30 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Nyree Kindred claims silver for GB moments before 16-year-old Hannah Russell follows suit". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. Prime, Richard. "Herefordshire Paralympian Sascha Kindred's Royal date". Hereford Times. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  14. "Paralympic challengers: Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis". BBC Sport. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  15. "Kindred joining Lewis in glory bid". Worcester News. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  16. "Sascha and Nyree Kindred are the proud parents of baby daughter Ella Rhiannon". Hereford Times. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  17. "No. 59090". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2009. p. 19.
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