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Sophie Pascoe

Sophie Pascoe
Personal information
Full name Sophie Frances Pascoe
Nationality New Zealand
Born (1993-01-08) 8 January 1993 (age 24)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Sport
Sport Swimming
Classifications S10, SB9, SM10
Club QEII Swim Club
Coach Roly Crichton

Sophie Frances Pascoe MNZM (born 8 January 1993) is a New Zealand para-swimmer. She has represented New Zealand at three Summer Paralympic Games from 2008, winning a total of nine gold medals and six silver medals, making her New Zealand's most successful Paralympian.

Born in Christchurch on 8 January 1993 to Gary and Jo Pascoe, Sophie grew up on a lifestyle block near Halswell on the south-western outskirts of the city. She has one older sister, Rebecca. On 23 September 1995, Pascoe was accidentally run over by her father on the family ride-on lawnmower, resulting in both her legs being caught under the cutter deck housing in the path of the rotating mower blades. As a result of the accident, her left leg was to be amputated below the knee, while the rear of her right leg was left with severe scarring. She attended Halswell Primary School, and Lincoln High School in the nearby Christchurch satellite town of Lincoln.

Pascoe began swimming at age 7. She is coached by Roly Crichton, and trains at the QEII swim club, which has been based at Jellie Park in Burnside since the facilities at Queen Elizabeth II Park were damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Pascoe is classified S10 for freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, SB9 for breaststroke, and SM10 for individual medley.

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. Pascoe then shared a gold medal for the 100 m backstroke when she drew with South African Shireen Sapiro. At 15 years of age, Pascoe was New Zealand's youngest athlete at the Paralympics, and the youngest ever New Zealander to win a medal.


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