- Date of Birth:
- 22 January 1991 (19)
- Sport:
- Swimming
- Home Town:
- Lincoln
- Current Address:
- Loughborough
Lizzie is one of GB’s strongest medal hopes in the pool for London 2012.
Lizzie learnt to swim when she was 5 years old and first represented GB at the age of 13, winning 6 Golds at the Australian Age Group Championships in Perth. She went on to win a staggering 9 Golds at the British Age Groups in 2004 and her success continued in 2005 when she won 5 Golds at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Italy.
In the summer of 2006, Lizzie gained a Gold and two Silvers at the European Junior Championships and then made her first senior team appearance, representing GB at the European Long Course Championships in Budapest. Later that year, she was a double Bronze medallist in the European Short Course Championships in Helsinki.
Lizzie qualified for the 2006 World Championships in Melbourne, finishing 7th overall in the 200m back before rushing home to complete her GCSE’s. Lizzie’s good form continued into the summer of 2007 where she competed for the second time at the European Juniors, this time securing an incredible four Golds and one Silver, including a hat trick of Golds in one night and two Championship records.
2008 was a huge year beginning with the Olympic trials in Sheffield. After a highly competitive and stressful week, Lizzie managed to qualify in both the 100m and 200m backstroke to book herself a spot at the Beijing Olympics.
Hot on the tail of the trials, the GB team travelled to Manchester for the World Short Course Championships. Here, Lizzie competed against some of the top backstrokers in the world. The highlight of the week, and perhaps her swimming career so far, was gaining 2nd place to Kirsty Coventry in her favourite event the 200m back, breaking the previous world record in the process.
The swimming year culminated in the Beijing Olympics, where Lizzie, still only 17 yrs of age, swam personal bests in the 100m and 200m back and broke a long-standing British Record in the 200m to finish 6th at her first Olympic Games. Her achievements to date were recognised at the end of 2008 when she was short-listed for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
Lizzie had some solid results at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and at the recent World Cups has lowered her own European record in the 200m backstroke.
Lizzie is getting stronger all the time and will definitely be one to watch at the London 2012 Olympics.
Achievements:
2009 5th, 200m Backstroke, World Championships
2009 7th, 100m Backstroke, World Championships
2008 6th, 200m Backstroke, Beijing Olympics
2008 10th, 100m Backstroke, Beijing Olympics
2008 Silver, 200m Backstroke, World SC Championships
2008 Gold, 4×100m Medley Relay, European Championships
2008 Silver, 100m Backstroke, British Championships
2008 Gold, 200m Backstroke, British Championships
2007 Gold, 200m Backstroke , European Junior Championships
2007 Gold, 100m Backstroke, European Junior Championships
2007 Gold, 200m I.M, European Junior Championships
2007 Gold, 4×100m Medley Relay, European Junior Championships
2007 Silver, 50m Backstroke, European Junior Championships
