Minna Atherton (born 17 May 2000) is an Australian competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who won the gold medals in the 100- and 200-metre backstroke events at the

2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The 5th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, were held on August 25–30, 2015, in Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about ...

in Singapore. She tied the junior world record (held by American Claire Adams) in the 100-metre backstroke and broke the Championships record in the 200-metre backstroke. In December 2015 at the Queensland State Swimming Championships in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, she broke the junior world record in the 100-metre backstroke with a time of 59.37. Two months later, in February 2016, she twice broke the junior world record in the 50-metre backstroke at the Brisbane Sprint Championships. In the heats she swam 27.73, followed by 27.49 in the final. In April 2016, Atherton did not qualify for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Her best result at the Australian trials was a third-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke behind

Emily Seebohm Emily Jane Seebohm, OAM (born 5 June 1992) is an Australian swimmer and television personality. She has appeared at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2021; and won three Olympic gold medals, five world championship gold medals and seven Commo ...

, who trains at the same club as Atherton, and

Madison Wilson Madison Maree Wilson, (born 31 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer who has participated in backstroke and freestyle events at the Olympic Games and the FINA world championships. Wilson has been a member of three world record Austra ...

. Seebohm and Wilson were the gold and silver medalists in this event at the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

. In 2018 she was in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth games which she didn't place in but made it into the backstroke finals.

International Swimming League

Atherton is a member of the

London Roar London Roar is a professional swimming club based in London and one of the first clubs of the International Swimming League (ISL) to be formed. It was formed in March 2019, with an international roster of swimmers including Adam Peaty who was among ...

team, competing in the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

(ISL). The ISL is an annual professional swimming league featuring a team-based competition format with fast paced race sessions. 12 teams featuring the world’s best swimmers competed for the ISL title in 2021. During the

2019 International Swimming League The 2019 International Swimming League was the inaugural edition of the International Swimming League, a professional swimming league, established in 2019. It comprised eight teams composed of both women and men. The league consisted of seven sho ...

season Atherton was the leading female backstroker in the league, winning ten of the twelve backstroke events she contested for the London Roar. Atherton was also the first person to break a world record while swimming an ISL race when she clocked 54.89 to win a 100 metre backstroke race at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in October 2019.

World records

Short course metres

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atherton, Minna 2000 births Living people Australian female backstroke swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record holders in swimming Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Australian women