British Paralympian swimmer Prepares for Rio 2016
Swimming Women's 100m Breaststroke SB8 Final 2012 London Paralympic Games
1st VLADYKINA Olesya RUS 2
2nd CASHMORE Claire GBR
Claire Cashmore
A seasoned Paralympian, London 2012 was Claire’s third Paralympics and most successful to date. Over the years Claire has won 7 golds,10 silver and 10 bronze medals for swimming.
Claire was born without a left forearm, but despite her disability she took to swimming at just six years old. At a local school swimming gala, another girl asked her how she could swim with only one arm, to which Claire promptly responded by winning the race.
She entered the world stage at only 16 years old, qualifying for Athens and coming home with 2 bronze medals, picking up a further bronze at the games in Beijing in 2008.
London 2012 saw a big boost in Claire’s profile as she was chosen to be one of the faces of Channel 4’s hugely successful Meet the Superhumans campaign – she was featured on billboards nationwide and in a number of adverts on Channel 4 speaking candidly about her disability.
Claire’s performance in the pool at London 2012 was impressive. Spurred on by the home crowds, she won silver in the SB8 100m breaststroke, bronze in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay and another silver in the 4 x 100m medley relay.
"I hope that by revisiting the challenges and barriers I had to overcome to succeed in sport I will inspire young people of any ability to realise that, they too, can enjoy the benefits of sport."
Twitter @ClaireCashmore