Gemma Mary Spofforth (born 17 November 1987) is an English former competition swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. Spofforth is the former world record-holder and former world champion in the 100-metre

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

, and won a total of eight medals in major international championships. Spofforth was born in

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on th ...

, England.British Swimming, Profile
Gemma Spofforth
Retrieved 6 June 2011. Spofforth represented 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, coming fourth in the 100-metre backstroke, four one-hundredths of a second (0.04) behind bronze medalist

Margaret Hoelzer Margaret Josephine Hoelzer (born March 30, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoelzer competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Olympic Games. Biography While in Huntsvil ...

. She also came ninth in the 200-metre backstroke. At the 2009 World Aquatic Championships in Rome, she took the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke, in a world record time of 58.12 seconds. Spofforth broke the 100-metre Backstroke world record on her way to winning her first world title in Rome, her time of 58.12 erased previous record holder Anastasia Zuyeva time of 58.48 set in the semi-finals of the event. Spofforth accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for coach

Gregg Troy Gregg Troy (born December 19, 1950) is an American professional and Olympic swimming coach. As of April 2021, he is the head coach for the Cali Condors, which is part of the International Swimming League. Until 2018, he was the head coach of the ...

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

team in

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

(NCAA) and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) competition from 2007 to 2010. During her four seasons of American college swimming, she won seven NCAA national championships, including three titles in the 100-yard backstroke (2008, 2009, 2010), three in the 200-yard backstroke (2007, 2008, 2009), and one in the 200-yard freestyle relay (2010), and was a key contributor to the Gators winning the NCAA national team championship in 2010. She received eleven All-American honours and four All-

(SEC) selections, was a two-time SEC champion, and set two SEC records. She was a member of Great Britain's 2012 Olympic team, and competed in the 100-metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she achieved fifth place in 59.20 seconds. After the 2012 Olympics, Spofforth announced her retirement from competitive swimming.

Personal bests and records held

References

External links

Gemma Spofforth
– British Swimming profile at Swimming.org
Gemma Spofforth
– Great Britain Olympic Team athlete profile at TeamGB.com
Gemma Spofforth
– University of Florida athlete profile at GatorZone.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spofforth, Gemma 1987 births Living people Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England English expatriates in the United States English female swimmers Female backstroke swimmers Female medley swimmers Florida Gators women's swimmers Olympic swimmers of Great Britain People educated at Portsmouth High School (Southsea) People from Shoreham-by-Sea Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games

Personal bests and records held

See also

References

External links