Annamay Pierse (born December 5, 1983) is a former competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who represented Canada in major international swimming championships including the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

FINA World Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ar ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and Pan Pacific Championships. Pierse grew up in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, and attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. She is the oldest of five sisters – all competitive swimmers – with one better and one younger brother. Pierse was a

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

specialist and the holder of several Canadian records both

long course An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

and

short course In swimming, the term short course (abbreviated SC) is used to identify a pool that is in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool. "Short course" is the second type of pool configuration current ...

. She was formerly the world record-holder in the 200-metre long course breaststroke until Rebecca Soni beat her time by 12 hundredths of a second during the 200-metre semifinals at the 2012 Summer Olympics. On April 2, 2008 she placed first at the Canadian Olympic Trials in 100-metre breaststroke thereby qualifying her for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, she finished in sixth in the final of the 200-metre breaststroke. She was also a member of the Canadian team that finished seventh in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay. She is married to Olympic paddler, Mark Oldershaw.

2008 Summer Olympics

Pierse represented Canada at the

and competed in the following events:

2009 Canadian Nationals

On March 14, 2009 at the University of Toronto pool, Pierse broke the world short course record in the 200 m breaststroke. Posting a time of 2:17.50. The Previous record was 2:17.75 belonging to Leisel Jones. She was awarded a new Pontiac Car from a local dealer sponsoring the event who promised a new car to any athlete breaking a world record. A local Speedo dealer also awarded her $2,500 for the feat. Thanks to this achievement, Pierse also won the

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

(CIS) female athlete of the year award for 2008-09.

2009 World Aquatics Championships

Pierse set a new world mark in the 200 m long course breaststroke at the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, with a time of 2:20.12 in the semi-finals. 1/10 of a second faster than the previous world record,

Rebecca Soni Rebecca Soni (born March 18, 1987) is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke (short and long course) and the 200- ...

set at the Beijing Olympics. However, in the finals, she faded down the final 50m and placed second (2:21.84) to the surprise victor Nadja Higl of Serbia.

2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

Pierse brought home a Bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke from these Championships; Being behind

, and

Leisel Jones Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal- ...

. Pierse said that this Pan Pac Bronze medal was more memorable than winning her World Championship medal. She had a rough year due to an illness and missed months of training.

References

External links