Nicole Zahnd (born 22 September 1980) is a retired Swiss swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She was born in Bern. She is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2004), and a top 8 finalist in the 200 m freestyle at the

2001 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 5th European Short Course Championships was held December 13–16, 2001 at the Wezenberg Swimming Pool in Antwerp, Belgium. The meet featured competition in a short course In swimming, the term short course (abbreviated SC) is used to ide ...

in Antwerp, Belgium. Zahnd played for two swimming clubs in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, before she trained under head coach Dirk Reinecke as part of the Swiss national team. Zahnd is also the wife of former medley swimmer and two-time Olympian Yves Platel (2000 and 2004). Zahnd made her own swimming history, as a 16-year-old, 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 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 498,715 ...

, finishing seventeenth as part of the Swiss relay team in the 4×100 m freestyle (3:53.30), and sixteenth in the 4×200 m freestyle (8:21.55). After an eight-year absence, Zahnd competed in all relays from the swimming program at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. On the first day of the Games, Zahnd teamed up with Dominique Diezi, Marjorie Sagne, and 16-year-old Seraina Prünte in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the anchor leg, Zahnd recorded a split of 56.50, the fastest in Swiss history, and her team finished the race in seventh place and fifteenth overall in a final time of 3:48.61. Four days later, in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, Zahnd placed twelfth, along with

Chantal Strasser Chantal Strasser (born 21 March 1978 in Zürich) is a retired female freestyle swimmer from Switzerland. She competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, starting in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. References * 197 ...

, Hanna Miluska, and Flavia Rigamonti, in 8:10.41. In her final event, 4×100 m medley relay, Zahnd swam the anchor freestyle leg, with Diezi (backstroke),

Carmela Schlegel Carmela Schlegel (born March 9, 1983) is a Swiss former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a single-time Olympian (2004), a double Swiss champion, and a former national record holder in the 100 m breaststroke. Schlegel also p ...

(breaststroke), and

Carla Stampfli Carla Stampfli (born 25 April 1984) is a Swiss former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events and later became a professional triathlete. She is a single-time Olympian (2004), a 27-time Swiss swimming champion, and a short-course national re ...

(butterfly), to pull off another fifteenth-place effort for the Swiss team in a time of 4:15.54. In the race, Zahnd lowered her personal best to 56.07 seconds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahnd, Nicole 1980 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Switzerland Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swiss female freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Bern 21st-century Swiss women