Liesette Bruinsma (born 9 September 2000) is a Dutch

Paralympic swimmer Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the International Para ...

. She competes in S11 classification events for athletes with visual impairments. She is the 2016 double Paralympic champion within her classification. She competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, in Women's 400 metre freestyle S11, and Women's 100 metre freestyle S11, winning silver medals.

Swimming career

Bruinsma first competed for the Netherlands at Glasgow in 2014. Her first major international competition was the

2016 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Funchal, Madeira running from 30 April to 7 May. Around 450 athletes from 50 different countries attended the competition. This was the last ma ...

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

, where she competed in six events, and took a medal in five of them. Three of her Funchal medal's were gold: 400 m freestyle (S11), 100 m breaststroke (SB11) and the 200 m find. medley (SM11). In the same year, Bruinsma made her Paralympic Games debut, winning five medals including two golds in the 200 metres individual medley and the 400 metres freestyle. The Netherlands did not send a team to the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico city, but Bruinsma dominated at the

2018 World Para Swimming European Championships The 2018 World Para Swimming European Championships, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships took place in Dublin, Ireland from 13 to 19 August 2018. It was the 5th edition of the Championsh ...

, winning four gold medals and breaking two world records, taking her tally of European Championships titles to seven.

Controversies

During the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

, Bruinsma raised protests against the victory of Chinese swimmers, the Paralympics organizing committee then accepted her protest and decided to cancel the competition. This has led to huge anger and protest in Chinese social media, especially when the two Chinese swimmers suffered from visual impairments as well. The competition was repeated on 29 August 2021, and the two Chinese swimmers won the gold and silver again while Bruinsma finished fourth.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruinsma, Liesette 2000 births Living people Dutch female breaststroke swimmers Dutch female freestyle swimmers Dutch female medley swimmers Paralympic medalists in swimming S11-classified para swimmers Paralympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships People from Súdwest-Fryslân Paralympic swimmers for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Friesland 21st-century Dutch women