Dame Sophie Frances PascoeDNZM (born 8 January 1993)[1] is a retired New Zealand para-swimmer. She represented New Zealand at fourSummer Paralympic Games from2008, winning a total of eleven gold medals, seven silver medals and one bronze medal, making her New Zealand's most successful Paralympian. She also represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games.[2]
Born inChristchurch on 8 January 1993 to Garry and Jo Pascoe, Pascoe grew up on alifestyle block nearHalswell on the south-western outskirts of the city.[3] She has one older sister, Rebecca. On 23 September 1995,[4] Pascoe was accidentally run over by her father on the family ride-on lawnmower. As a result of the accident, her left leg was amputated below the knee, while the rear of her right leg was left with severe scarring.[3][5][6] She attended Halswell Primary School,[3] andLincoln High School in the nearby Christchurch satellite town ofLincoln.[5]
Pascoe is classifiedS10 for freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, SB9 for breaststroke, and SM10 for individual medley.[9]
At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Pascoe won a gold and a silver medal for the 100 m breaststroke and 100 m butterfly respectively and later a gold for the women's 200 m individual medley.[10] Pascoe then shared a gold medal for the 100 m backstroke when she drew with South AfricanShireen Sapiro.[11] At 15 years of age, Pascoe wasNew Zealand's youngest athlete at the Paralympics,[12] and the youngest ever New Zealander to win a medal.[13]
Following the 2008 Paralympics, Pascoe was voted New Zealand's favourite Paralympian in a nationwide voting competition run by Mitsubishi Motors. For this she won a Mitsubishi VRX Outlander.[14] Pascoe was appointed aMember of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the2009 New Year's Honours, for services to swimming.[15] In February 2012, Pascoe became the inaugural winner of the Disabled Sportsperson of the Year award at the 2011Halberg Awards.[16]
At the2012 Summer Paralympics, Pascoe competed in six events – the four in which she won medals at the 2008 Paralympics, plus the 50m freestyle (S10) and 100m freestyle (SM10) events.[6] She successfully defended her 200 m individual medley (SM10) gold medal, breaking her own world record by four seconds with a time of 2:25.65.[17] She also won gold medals in the 100 m butterfly (S10), where she bettered her silver at Beijing and in the process setting a new world record with a time of 1:04.43,[18] and in the 100 m freestyle (S10), setting a new Paralympic record with a time of 1:00.89.[19] Pascoe won silver medals in the 50 m freestyle (S10),[20] 100 m backstroke (S10),[21] and 100 m breaststroke (SB9).[22]
In March 2013, Pascoe broke her own world record for the 50m butterfly at the New Zealand Swimming Championships in Auckland, setting a time of 29.21 seconds.[23][24]
At the2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Pascoe competed in five events, dropping the 100 m breaststroke SB9. She won gold medals in the100 m backstroke, 100 m butterfly and200 m individual medley, the latter in world record time. She also won silver medals in the 50 m freestyle and 100 m freestyle, both behind Canada'sAurélie Rivard. Her 50 m freestyle medal holds the distinction as the 200th medal won by New Zealand at the Paralympic Games (both summer and winter editions).[25] Her success took her gold medal count to nine and her total medal count to 15, overtakingEve Rimmer's eight gold medals and 14 total medals to become New Zealand's most successful Paralympian.[2]
2018: Two gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (4x50m individual medley, 100m Breaststroke)
2017: Winner of theHalberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
2016: Five medals at the 2016 Paralympics, three gold and two silver.
2015: Winner of theHalberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
2014: Two gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games (4x50m individual medley, 100m Breaststroke)
2013: Winner of theHalberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
2012: Three gold medals (100 m freestyle-S10, 100 m butterfly-S10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); three silver medals (50 m freestyle-S10, 100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9) –International Paralympic Committee (IPC) – Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom; Winner of theHalberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year. Named as an ambassador for Beef and Lamb New Zealand.[32]
2011: Winner of theHalberg Award for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
2010: Gold medal (100 m butterfly-S10); three silver medals (50 m freestyle-S10, 100 m backstroke-S10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); bronze medal (100 m breaststroke-SB9) –IPC World Championships, Eindhoven, Netherlands
2009: Four gold medals (100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m butterfly-S10, 100 m individual medley-SM10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); three bronze medals (100 m freestyle-S10, 400 m freestyle-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9) –IPC World Championships – 25 m, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2008: Three gold medals (100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9, 200 m individual medley-SM10); Silver (100 m butterfly-S10) –International Paralympic Committee (IPC) – Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
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