Béatrice Pierre Hess (born 10 November 1961 in

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

) is a French Paralympic

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 ...

. The French newspaper ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

'' has described her as "one of the best swimmers in the world","Béatrice Hess : 'En soi, existe toujours un potentiel…'"
''

'', October 28, 2000. Competing at the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

, Hess won four gold medals in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, one in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, six in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, and seven in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. She also broke nine world records at the 2000 Paralympics in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

."Hess strikes golden six"
BBC, October 27, 2000 At the 2004 Games, she won two gold and three silver medals. Hess has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

, and competes in the S5 disability classification.

References

External links

Biography
on ''

Who's Who in France ''Who's Who in France'' is a biographical dictionary published in France and written in French. In France it is simply "le ''Who's Who''". History The first edition of ''Who's Who in France'' was published in 1953 by Jacques Lafitte. In 197 ...

'' * 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Colmar French female backstroke swimmers French female breaststroke swimmers French female butterfly swimmers French female freestyle swimmers French female medley swimmers Paralympic swimmers of France Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for France Paralympic silver medalists for France World record holders in paralympic swimming Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming S5-classified Paralympic swimmers 20th-century French women {{France-Paralympic-medalist-stub

See also

References

External links