, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and world record holder. She attended and swam competitively for Auburn University

Auburn University

Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

 in Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, in the United States. At the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

, in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Coventry won three Olympic medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze, while in the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 she won four medals: a gold and three silver. She was subsequently described by Paul Chingoka, head of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, as "our national treasure". Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...

 has called her "a golden girl," and awarded her US$100,000 in cash for her 2008 Olympic performance.

Biography

Coventry attended Dominican Convent High School, Harare

Dominican Convent High School, Harare

Dominican Convent High School, is the oldest established school in Harare. It was founded in 1892 by Mother Patrick, an Irish nun, with 10 pupils. There is also a Dominican Convent High School in Bulawayo....

 in Zimbabwe. In 2000, while still in high school, Coventry became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach the semifinals at the Olympics and was named Zimbabwe's Sports Woman of the Year.

As a student at Auburn University, Coventry helped lead the Tigers to NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Championships in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, she was the top individual scorer at the NCAA Championships and captured three individual titles including the 200 m and 400 m individual medley (IM)

Medley swimming

Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...

, and the 200 m backstroke

Backstroke

The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

 for the second consecutive season. She was named the College Swimming Coaches Association Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts. Other awards include 2005 SEC

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 Swimmer of the Year, the 2004–2005 SEC Female Athlete of the Year, and the 2005 Honda Award Winner for Swimming.

At the 2005 World Championships

2005 World Aquatics Championships

The 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005...

 in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Kirsty improved on her 2004 Olympic medal count by winning gold in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and silver in the 200 m and the 400 m IM. She bettered her Olympic gold-winning 200 m backstroke time with a performance of 2:08.52. Although she was one of just two swimmers from Zimbabwe, her performance allowed her country to rank third in the medal count by nation. In addition Kirsty picked up the female swimmer of the meet honors.

In Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 at the 2007 World Championships

2007 World Aquatics Championships

The 2007 World Aquatics Championships or the XII FINA World Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007...

, Coventry won silver medals in the 200 m backstroke and 200 m IM. She was disqualified in the 400 m IM when finishing second to eventual winner Katie Hoff

Katie Hoff

Kathryn "Katie" Elise Hoff is an American swimmer. Hoff is strongest in the 200 and 400 meter individual medley, though she is a very capable swimmer in many events, ranging from the four 200 meter events to the 800 meter freestyle...

 in her heat. Kirsty finished in a disappointing 14th place in the 100 m backstroke in a time of 1:01.73, failing to qualify for the final.

Coventry continued her good form of 2007 by winning four gold medals at the International Swim Meet in Narashino, Japan. She led the way in the 200 m and 400 m IM as well as the 100 m and 200 m backstroke.

In 2008, Coventry broke her first world record in the 200 m backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix. She bettered the mark set by Krisztina Egerszegi

Krisztina Egerszegi

Krisztina Egerszegi is a Hungarian former world record holding swimmer and one of the greatest Hungarian Olympic champions of the modern era...

 in August 1991, the second oldest swimming world record. Her new record was 2:06:39. Coventry continued her winning streak at the meet by winning the 100 m backstroke and the 200 m IM. Kirsty Coventry is the third woman in history to break the 1:00 minute barrier in the 100 m backstroke, and the second to break the 59-second barrier.

At the 2008 Manchester

2008 FINA Short Course World Championships

The 9th FINA Swimming World Championships were held at the Manchester Evening News Arena, in Manchester, England April 9 – April 13 2008....

 Short Course World Championships, Kirsty Coventry broke her second world record, setting a time, whilst winning the gold medal, of 4:26:52 in the 400 m IM. The following day saw Coventry win her second gold medal of the championships in the 100 m backstroke. Her time of 57:10 was a new championship record and the second fastest time in history in the event. Only Natalie Coughlin

Natalie Coughlin

Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medallist.At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive...

 has swum faster (56:51). Day three of the championships saw Coventry break another championship record in qualifying fastest for the final of the 200 m backstroke. Her time of 2:03:69 was a mere four tenths of a second outside the current world record set by Reiko Nakamura

Reiko Nakamura

is a Japanese Olympic and Asian record-holding swimmer. She swam in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, winning the bronze medals in the 200m backstroke at both editions....

 in Tokyo in 2008. Coventry then bettered this time to take her second world record of the championships by winning the final in a time of 2:00:91. She then went on to shatter the short course World Record in winning the 200 m Individual Medley in 2:06:13. Due to her performances at the World Championships, Kirsty Coventry was named as the FINA Female Swimmer of the Championships.

Coventry represented Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Zimbabwe sent a team to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.Zimbabwe sent thirteen athletes to Beijing, competing in swimming, athletics, tennis, cycling, triathlon, and rowing...

 at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. Coventry won the silver medal in the 400 m individual medley on 10 August 2008, becoming the second woman to swim the medley in less than 4:30, the first being Stephanie Rice

Stephanie Rice

Stephanie Louise Rice OAM is an Australian swimmer. She currently holds the world record in the 400 m women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Rice is trained by Michael Bohl from the St Peters Western Swimming Club in Brisbane...

 who won the gold in the same event. Coventry beat the world record by just under two seconds, and was only just beaten by Rice to a new WR. Coventry, in the second semi-final of the 100 m Backstroke, set a new World Record of 58.77 seconds. However, in the final of that event she was beaten to the gold medal by Natalie Coughlin. Coventry was again beaten by Stephanie Rice in the 200 m individual medley, despite swimming under the old world record. Coventry did defend her Olympic title in the 200 m backstroke, winning gold in a world record time of 2:05.24.

Awarded US$100,000 by President Mugabe for her success at the Olympics. Coventry gave a portion of that money to charity.

On 28 November 2008, Kirsty's short course 400 IM World Record was broken by American Julia Smit

Julia Smit

Julia Elizabeth Smit is an American swimmer and two-time Olympic medalist. She currently holds the world record in the 200 and 400-meter individual medley ....

.

At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Coventry won a gold and a silver. She won the 200 m backstroke world title with a world record time and came second in the 400 m individual medley. She came fourth in the 200 m individual medley final and eighth in the 100m backstroke final.

2004 Olympic medals

• Bronze in the 200 m IM (2:12.72) – Zimbabwe's second Olympic medal
• Gold in the 200 m backstroke (2:09.19)
• Silver in the 100 m backstroke (1:00.50)

2005 World Championship medals

• Gold in the 100 m backstroke (1:00.24)
• Gold in the 200 m backstroke (2:08.52)
• Silver in the 200 m IM (2:11.13)
• Silver in the 400 m IM (4:39.72)

2007 All-Africa Games

• Gold in the 200 m IM (2:13.02 CR)
• Gold in the 400 m IM (4:39.91 CR)
• Gold in the 50 m freestyle (26.19)
• Gold in the 800 m freestyle (8:43.89 CR)
• Gold in the 50 m backstroke (28.89 AR)
• Gold in the 100 m backstroke (1:01.28 CR)
• Gold in the 200 m backstroke (2:10.66 CR)
• Silver in the 100 m breaststroke (1:11.86)
• Silver in the 4x100 m medley (4:21.60 NR)
• Silver in the 4x200 m freestyle (8:38.20 NR)

2007 World Championship medals

• Silver in the 200 m backstroke (2:07.54)
• Silver in the 200 m IM (2:10.74)

2008 Olympic Medals

• Silver in the 400 m IM (4:29.89 AR)
• Silver in the 100 m Backstroke (59.19)(58.77 WR semis)
• Silver in the 200 m IM (2:08.59 AR)
• Gold in the 200 m Backstroke (2:05.24) WR

2009 World Championship medals

• Gold in the 200 m backstroke (2:04.81) WR
• Silver in the 400 m IM (4:32.12)

2011 All-Africa Games

• Gold in the 200 m IM (2:13.70)
• Gold in the 400 m IM (4:44.34)
• Gold in the 100 m backstroke (1:00.86 CR)
• Gold in the 200 m backstroke (2:12.40)
• Silver in the 100 m butterfly (1:02.20)
• Silver in the 4x100 m medley (4:24.01)
• Silver in the 4x100 m freestyle (3:57.81)
• Silver in the 4x200 m freestyle

External links

• Official Website
• Auburn University profile
• "Kirsty Coventry", n°83 on Time
  Time (magazine)
  Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
  
  ’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"