Marianne Kriel (born August 30, 1971, in

Bellville, Western Cape Bellville is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated adjacent to the Koelberg Mountains and also the University of Western Cape where it has its own campus. Established It was founded as "12 Mile Post" (Afrikaa ...

) is a former

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 freestyle swimmer from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, who won the bronze medal in the 100 m backstroke at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. Met with Nelson Mandela. She spent some time training at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

(SMU) where she met close friends Tia Gibson and her daughters Meg and Katie. Kriel also participated in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, Spain, and received the President's Award in 1993 and 1996. Kriel was the first woman to captain a multi-code team to the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...

and the

1995 All-Africa Games The 6th All-Africa Games were played from 13 to 23 September 1995 in Harare, Zimbabwe. 46 countries participated in eighteen sports. South Africa, having previously been banned from competition by the other African nations, was invited to the ...

. Kriel grew up in Bellville (near Cape Town) where she attended Bellville High School. She continued to be a role model to her fellow pupils of all races and backgrounds, in a way playing a big role in the unification of South Africa's youth.

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* 1971 births Living people People from Bellville, South Africa South African female freestyle swimmers South African female backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for South Africa Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from the Western Cape African Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1995 All-Africa Games African Games gold medalists for South Africa African Games silver medalists for South Africa {{SouthAfrica-Olympic-medalist-stub

See also

External links