Kathy Read

Kathy Read
Personal information
Born (1969-06-30) 30 June 1969 (age 55)
Great Yarmouth, England
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight60 kg (130 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
ClubBarnet Copthall, Norwich Penguins
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Sheffield 4×100 m medley
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 1986 Edinburgh 200 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 1994 Victoria 4x100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Victoria 100 m backstroke

Katherine Read (born 30 June 1969), also known by her married name Katherine Osher, is an English former backstroke swimmer who competed at three Olympic Games, in Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992.[1] She holds the record of 42 National titles[2]

Career

Olympic Games

Read competed at her first Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984 at the age of 15 and reached the B final of the 200 m backstroke, finishing 11th overall. Two years later at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, she won a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke. At her second Olympic Games in Seoul 1988, Read reached the B finals of both the 100 m and 200m backstroke, overall she finished 16th and 12th respectively. At her final Olympics in Barcelona 1992, she was eliminated in the heats, finishing 24th overall in the 100 m and 21st in the 200m backstroke events. She competed at the 1996 Olympic trials, but failed to make the team for Atlanta.

European Championships

During her career, Read also reached six individual finals at the European Championships, 8th at 200 m (1987), 7th at both 100 m & 200 m (1989), 6th at 200 m (1991) and 6th at both 100 & 200 m (1993). It was at the 1993 European Championships event in Sheffield that she finally won a European Championship medal, winning bronze in the medley relay along with teammates Jaime King, Nicola Kennedy and Karen Pickering.[3]

Commonwealth Games

She represented England and won a silver medal in the 200 metres backstroke, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.[4] Four years later she represented England in the 100 metres and 200 metres backstroke events, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.[5][6] At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria (as Kathy Osher), she won two medals, bronze in the 100 m backstroke, followed by a silver in the medley relay.[7]

National Championships

Her record of 42 ASA National Championship titles includes 29 senior titles (26 backstroke titles (5 x 50 metres backstroke), (10 x 100 metres backstroke), (11 x 200 metres backstroke) and (3 medley titles (1 x 200 metres medley), (2 x 400 metres medley).[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, United States 11th 200 m backstroke 2:18.33
1986 Commonwealth Games Edinburgh, Scotland 5th 100 m backstroke 1:04.88
2nd 200 m backstroke 2:16.92
8th 400 m Ind. medley 4:58.91
1986 World Championships Madrid, Spain 13th 100 m backstroke 1:04.52
13th 200 m backstroke 2:18.13
10th 4 × 100 m medley 4:19.37
1987 European Championships Strasbourg, France 8th 200 m backstroke 2:16.46
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 16th 100 m backstroke 1:04.27
12th 200 m backstroke 2:18.20
9th 4 × 100 m medley 4:16.18
1989 European Championships Bonn, Germany 7th 100 m backstroke 1:04.60
7th 200 m backstroke 2:16.85
5th 4 × 100 m medley 4:13.89
1990 Commonwealth Games Auckland, New Zealand 6th 100 m backstroke 1:04.59
5th 200 m backstroke 2:15.75
1991 European Championships Athens, Greece 6th 200 m backstroke 2:15.15
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 24th 100 m backstroke 1:04.97
21st 200 m backstroke 2:17.15
1993 European Championships Sheffield, England 6th 100 m backstroke 1:03.54
6th 200 m backstroke 2:14.55
3rd 4 × 100 m medley 4:12.18
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 3rd 100 m backstroke 1:03.27
6th 200 m backstroke 2:16.25
2nd 4 × 100 m medley 4:12.83

References

  1. ^ Kathy Read. sports-reference.com
  2. ^ "Hocking on the crest of a winning wave, 15 July 1996, p. 35". The Times.
  3. ^ Swimming - European Championships. the-sports.org
  4. ^ "1986 Athletes". Team England.
  5. ^ "1990 Athletes". Team England.
  6. ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  7. ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  8. ^ ""Results from Leeds." Times, 5 Aug. 1991, p. 30". Times Digital Archive.
  9. ^ ""Results from Sheffield." Times, 15 June 1992, p. 28". Times Digital Archive.
  10. ^ ""For the Record." Times, 14 June 1993, p. 24". Times Digital Archive.
  11. ^ ""For the Record." Times, 1 Aug. 1994, p. 23". Times Digital Archive.
  12. ^ ""Swimming." Times, 20 Aug. 1984, p. 17". Times Digital Archive.
  13. ^ "Still, Athole. "Swimming." Times, 27 Aug. 1985, p. 24". Times Digital Archive.
  14. ^ ""Mother is the inspiration." Times, 2 June 1986, p. 38". Times Digital Archive.
  15. ^ "Moor, Roy. "Lee snatches title with exhilarating late surge." Times, 3 Aug. 1987, p. 31". Times Digital Archive.
  16. ^ ""Results from Leeds." Times, 1 Aug. 1988, p. 31". Times Digital Archive.
  17. ^ "Downes, Steven. "Scarborough secures place." Times, 15 July 1989, p. 49". Times Digital Archive.
  18. ^ ""Swimming." Times, 18 Aug. 1984, p. 27". Times Digital Archive.
  19. ^ "Still, Athole. "Swimming." Times, 26 Aug. 1985, p. 15". Times Digital Archive.
  20. ^ "Moor, Roy. "Moorhouse shapes up for Europe." Times, 1 Aug. 1987, p. 39". Times Digital Archive.