Sarah Hardcastle

Sarah Lucy Hardcastle (born 9 April 1969), also known by her married name Sarah Thomas,[1] is a British former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, world championships and European championships, and swam for England in the Commonwealth Games. She specialised in the 400- and 800-metre freestyle, and also competed in medley races. Hardcastle won multiple major championship medals over the course of her career, including individual silver and bronze medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics at the age of 15 and two individual gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She retired from the sport in 1986 but returned in 1993, winning gold at the World Short Course Championships for the 800-metre freestyle in 1995 and reaching the final of the same event at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Sarah Hardcastle

Personal information
Full name	Sarah Lucy Hardcastle
National team	Great Britain
Born	9 April 1969 Chelmsford, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, individual medley
Club	BOSS
Coach	MIke Higgs
Medal record Women's swimming Representing Great Britain Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles 400 m freestyle 1984 Los Angeles 800 m freestyle World Championships – Long Course 1986 Madrid 400 m freestyle World Championships – Short Course 1995 Rio de Janeiro 800 m freestyle 1995 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle European Championships – Long Course 1985 Sofia 800 m freestyle 1983 Rome 800 m freestyle 1993 Sheffield 4×200 m freestyle Representing  England Commonwealth Games 1986 Edinburgh 400 m freestyle 1986 Edinburgh 800 m freestyle 1986 Edinburgh 4×200 m freestyle 1994 Victoria 4×200 m freestyle 1986 Edinburgh 400 m medley 1994 Victoria 400 m freestyle

Career

Hardcastle finished second in the 800-metre freestyle at the British national championships in 1982, aged 13. She was selected for the England team at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane,[2] where she reached the final of the 800-metre freestyle.[3] In 1983 she won the bronze medal in the 800-metre freestyle at the European Championships, aged 14.[4]

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she became the youngest ever British woman to win an Olympic medal[5] when she won silver in the 400-metre freestyle, aged 15 years, 3 months and 22 days.[6] She also won bronze in the 800-metre freestyle, and finished ninth the 400-metre individual medley.[7]

Hardcastle won the silver medal in the 800-metre freestyle and finished sixth in the 400-metre freestyle at the 1985 European Championships.[8] At the 1986 Commonwealth Games, she won gold medals in both the 400- and 800-metre freestyle. Her time of 8:24.77 in the 800-metre freestyle was the second-fastest ever recorded, 0.15 seconds outside the world record held by Tracey Wickham, and a new European record.[9] Her time in the 400-metre freestyle was a Commonwealth Games record.[10] She also won bronze in the 400-metre individual medley,[11] and was a member of the team that won silver in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay.[12] She won the bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle at the 1986 World Championships.[5]

Hardcastle initially retired from competitive swimming in 1986 at the age of 17; in a 2012 interview she said that after years of training she had wanted to have a normal teenage life.[7] After a spell working as a secretary at Ford,[13] she decided to return to the sport in 1992[14] and resumed competing in 1993.[15] Hardcastle was a member of the relay teams that won bronze in the 4×200-metre freestyle at the 1993 European Championships and silver at the 1994 Commonwealth Games,[7] where she also won an individual bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle.[16] In 1995 she won the 800 m freestyle gold medal[17] and bronze in the 400 m freestyle at the World Short Course Championships.[18] At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta she reached the final of the 800-metre freestyle, finishing eighth.[19]

At the ASA National British Championships she is a five times winner of the 400 metres freestyle in (1984, 1986, 1993-1995) and four times winner of the 800 metres freestyle (1984, 1986, 1993 and 1995), in addition to being the champion over 400 metres medley in 1983 and 1986.[20][21][22][23][24]

Hardcastle retired permanently from competitive swimming after the 1996 Olympics, later moving to New Zealand to work as a swimming coach.[7]

Personal life

Hardcastle was born in Chelmsford, Essex[1] and attended Shoebury High School.[7] Her mother, Ann Hardcastle, is a former swimming coach who taught several British elite swimmers including Mark Foster.[25] Hardcastle married Lee Thomas in 1995;[15] the couple have four children.[7] Her daughter Eve Thomas[26] is a current international swimmer representing New Zealand.

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sarah Hardcastle". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
2. "Brisbane selection for Miss Hardcastle". The Times. London. 25 August 1982. p. 16.
3. Streeton, Richard (2 October 1982). "Promising start for England led by Miss Croft". The Times. London. p. 15.
4. Still, Athole (27 August 1983). "Hubble blames British coaches after failure". The Times. London. p. 16.
5. Press Association (8 May 2012). "Medal joy for teenager, Los Angeles 1984". MSN Sport. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
6. Viner, Brian (4 August 2008). "Tom Daley: The boy in the bubbles". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
7. Phillips, Chris (18 July 2012). "Sarah Hardcastle: I was 15 and thought I was invincible". Times Series Newspapers. Newsquest (London) Ltd. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
8. Still, Athole (9 August 1985). "Swimming: Hardcastle's high hopes sink". The Times. London. p. 20.
9. Associated Press (30 July 1986). "Commonwealth Games: English Teen Sets a Record". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
10. "Hardcastle Records Freestyle Record". Orlando Sentinel. 28 July 1986. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
11. "Moorhouse is pipped by Davis". The Times. London. 26 July 1986. p. 30.
12. "Results (accessed by searching by event/year)". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
13. Hodgson, Guy (18 July 1996). "Hardcastle holding back sands of time". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
14. Hodgson, Guy (1 August 1993). "Hardcastle faces long haul back". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
15. Lonsbrough, Anita (January 1996). "World Champion at Last". SwimNews. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
16. Mackay, Duncan (23 August 1994). "Birmingham duo disrupt Australia's flow: Swimming domination broken". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
17. "Swimming: Hardcastle splashes out with gold". The Independent. 2 December 1995. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
18. "Hardcastle adds bronze to gold". The Independent. 3 December 1995. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
19. Hodgson, Guy (26 July 1996). "Swimming: Hardcastle fails to lift British spirits". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
20. ""Swimming." Times, 17 Aug. 1984, p. 18". Times Digital Archive.
21. ""Cowley ruled out of Games for England." Times, 31 May 1986, p. 38". Times Digital Archive.
22. ""For the Record." Times, 11 June 1993, p. 42". Times Digital Archive.
23. "Lord, Craig. "Back injury threatens Gillingham Games schedule." Times, 29 July 1994, p. 35". Times Digital Archive.
24. ""For the Record." Times, 24 July 1995, p. 28". Times Digital Archive.
25. Bewick, Angela (10 June 2011). "British Olympians launch the London 2012 Olympic Torchbearer Campaign". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
26. "Off to the Olympics". Mother of Eve Thomas. stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 July 2012.