Katherine Read (born 30 June 1969), also known by her married name Katherine Osher, is an English former backstroke swimmer who competed at three Olympic Games, in

Los Angeles 1984 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

Seoul 1988 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 ...

and Barcelona 1992. She holds the record of 42 National titles

Career

Olympic Games

Read competed at her first Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984 at the age of 15 and reached the B final of the 200 m backstroke, finishing 11th overall. Two years later at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, she won a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke. At her second Olympic Games in Seoul 1988, Read reached the B finals of both the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

backstroke, overall she finished 16th and 12th respectively. At her final Olympics in Barcelona 1992, she was eliminated in the heats, finishing 24th overall in the

and 21st in the

backstroke events. She competed at the 1996 Olympic trials, but failed to make the team for Atlanta.

European Championships

During her career, Read also reached six individual finals at the European Championships, 8th at 200 m (1987), 7th at both 100 m & 200 m (1989), 6th at 200 m (1991) and 6th at both 100 & 200 m (1993). It was at the 1993 European Championships event in Sheffield that she finally won a European Championship medal, winning bronze in the medley relay along with teammates Jaime King, Nicola Kennedy and Karen Pickering.

Commonwealth Games

She represented England and won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 200 metres backstroke, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh, Scotland. Four years later she represented England in the 100 metres and 200 metres backstroke events, at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

in Auckland, New Zealand. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria (as Kathy Osher), she won two medals, bronze in the 100 m backstroke, followed by a silver in the medley relay.

National Championships

Her record of 42 ASA National Championship titles includes 29 senior titles (26 backstroke titles (5 x 50 metres backstroke), (10 x 100 metres backstroke), (11 x 200 metres backstroke) and (3 medley titles (1 x 200 metres medley), (2 x 400 metres medley).

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Kathy 1969 births Living people English female swimmers Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics British female backstroke swimmers Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games