Sara Helena Åberg (born 16 July 1971) is a former

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Olympic

freestyle swimmer Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common ...

. She competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, where she swam the 50-metre

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

, finishing 23rd. Åberg also represented Sweden at the European Championships - winning a silver in

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

- and the World Championships, winning a bronze medal in relay. At the Helsingborgs Simsällskaps 100 years jubilée in 2007, Åberg was awarded the swimmer of the century. Åberg has lived openly gay since the end of 1980's. She had to go back into the closet for her time studying at the university in Georgia, where she felt "one was absolutely not allowed to be gay" at the time. Åberg is the aunt of the Swedish Youth Olympics swimmer

Gustav Åberg Lejdström Carl Gustav Thomas Åberg Lejdström (born 13 March 1992) is a Swedish swimmer representing Helsingborgs SS. He participated in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, where he finished 10th in the boys' 400 metre freestyle and 20th in the bo ...

References

1971 births Living people Georgia Bulldogs women's swimmers Swedish expatriate swimmers in the United States Helsingborgs SS swimmers Olympic swimmers for Sweden Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics LGBT swimmers Swedish lesbian sportswomen Swedish female freestyle swimmers {{Sweden-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References