Sarah Lucy Hardcastle (born 9 April 1969), also known by her married name Sarah Thomas, is a British former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, world championships and European championships, and swam for England in the Commonwealth Games. She specialised in the 400- and 800-metre

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

, and also competed in medley races. Hardcastle won multiple major championship medals over the course of her career, including individual silver and bronze medals at the

1984 Summer Olympics 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 ...

at the age of 15 and two individual gold medals 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 ...

. She retired from the sport in 1986 but returned in 1993, winning gold at the World Short Course Championships for the 800-metre freestyle in 1995 and reaching the final of the same event 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, ...

Career

Hardcastle finished second in the 800-metre freestyle at the British national championships in 1982, aged 13. She was selected for the England team at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

in Brisbane, where she reached the final of the 800-metre freestyle. In 1983 she won the bronze medal in the 800-metre freestyle at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, aged 14. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she became the youngest ever British woman to win an Olympic medal when she won silver in the 400-metre freestyle, aged 15 years, 3 months and 22 days. She also won bronze in the 800-metre freestyle, and finished ninth the 400-metre individual medley. Hardcastle won the silver medal in the 800-metre freestyle and finished sixth in the 400-metre freestyle at the 1985 European Championships. At the

, she won gold medals in both the 400- and 800-metre freestyle. Her time of 8:24.77 in the 800-metre freestyle was the second-fastest ever recorded, 0.15 seconds outside the world record held by

Tracey Wickham Tracey Lee Wickham (born 24 November 1962 in Rosebud, Victoria) is an Australian former middle distance swimmer. Wickham was the World Champion for the 400 m and 800 m freestyle in 1978, and won gold in both events at the 1978 and 1982 Commonwe ...

, and a new European record. Her time in the 400-metre freestyle was a Commonwealth Games record. She also won bronze in the 400-metre individual medley, and was a member of the team that won silver in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. She won the bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle at the 1986 World Championships. Hardcastle initially retired from competitive swimming in 1986 at the age of 17; in a 2012 interview she said that after years of training she had wanted to have a normal teenage life. She participated in Prince Edward's charity television special ''

The Grand Knockout Tournament ''The Grand Knockout Tournament'' (also known as ''It's a Royal Knockout'') was a one-off charity event which took place on 15 June 1987, and was shown on British television on 19 June 1987 (BBC1, repeated on 27 December 1987), in addition to a ...

'' in 1987. After a spell working as a secretary at

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, she decided to return to the sport in 1992 and resumed competing in 1993. Hardcastle was a member of the relay teams that won bronze in the 4×200-metre freestyle at the 1993 European Championships and silver at 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, ...

, where she also won an individual bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle. In 1995 she won the 800m freestyle gold medal and bronze in the 400m freestyle at the World Short Course Championships. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta she reached the final of the 800-metre freestyle, finishing eighth. At the ASA National British Championships she is a five times winner of the 400 metres freestyle in (1984, 1986, 1993-1995) and four times winner of the 800 metres freestyle (1984, 1986, 1993 and 1995), in addition to being the champion over 400 metres medley in 1983 and 1986. Hardcastle retired permanently from competitive swimming after the 1996 Olympics, later moving to New Zealand to work as a swimming coach.

Personal life

Hardcastle was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, Essex and attended Shoebury High School. Her mother, Ann Hardcastle, is a former swimming coach who taught several British elite swimmers including Mark Foster. Hardcastle married Lee Thomas in 1995; the couple have four children. Her daughter

Eve Thomas Eve Thomas (born 9 February 2001) is a New Zealand swimmer. She competed for New Zealand in the women's 800 metre freestyle at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. Thomas is the daughter of British swimmer Sarah Hardcastle. At the 2022 Common ...

is a current international swimmer representing New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Sarah 1969 births Living people English female swimmers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in swimming British female freestyle swimmers Female medley swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Sportspeople from Chelmsford Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming

Career

Personal life

See also

References