Stephanie Millward, (born 20 September 1981) is a British

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 ...

Personal life

Millward was born on 20 September 1981 in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Saudi Arabia. At the age of 17 she was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

(MS). As a result, she competed in the S9 (classification) Paralympic classification. Since 12 June 2016, she competes in the S8 classification after her category change from the less impaired S9 category down to S8. She was reclassified at the Berlin Open. She was awarded the Freedom of the Town of

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest o ...

on 2 March 2013.

Education

Millward attended

The Corsham School The Corsham School is a large secondary school, with a sixth form, in Corsham, Wiltshire, England. The school has academy status, and as of January 2022 has 1,129 pupils enrolled. Catchment Students attend from the market town of Corsham and ne ...

, Wiltshire.

Swimming

Millward was close to a place in the British international non-disabled team and, having broken the British record for the 100-metre

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), 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 disa ...

at the age of 15, hoped to qualify for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

before she was diagnosed with MS. She qualified for the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

held in Beijing, China where she entered four S9 events. She finished fourth in the 100-metre backstroke, fifth in the 100-metre freestyle, sixth in the 50-metre freestyle and thirteenth in the 100-metre butterfly. In 2009 Millward won two medals at the British Disability Swimming Championships, taking a silver in the 100 freestyle and bronze in the 100-metre butterfly. At the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

(IPC) European Swimming Championships held in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, Iceland, she won three gold and two silver medals in individual events and added a further two gold medals in relays. At the 2009 IPC Swimming World Championships 25 m in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil she won two gold, three silver and a bronze in individual competitions and two gold medals in relay events. At the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships held in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games England were represented at the 2010 Commonwealth Games by Commonwealth Games England. The country used: the abbreviation ''ENG'', the Cross of St George as its flag and "Jerusalem" as its victory anthem. England had previously used "Land of Hope ...

, where she won silver medals in the 100-metre butterfly S9 and the 100-metre freestyle S9 and a bronze medal in the 50-metre freestyle S9, finishing behind winner

Natalie du Toit Natalie du Toit OIG MBE (; born 29 January 1984) is a South African swimmer. She is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She was one of two Paralympians to compete at the 2008 S ...

of South Africa on each occasion. At the 2011 IPC European Championships in Berlin, Germany, Millward won three gold and two silver medals, including setting a world record time of four minutes, 52.40 seconds on the way to winning gold in the 4×100 m medley relay (34pts) alongside

Heather Frederiksen Heather Frederiksen MBE (born 30 December 1985) is a retired British Paralympic swimmer. She is former world record holder in the women's S8 100 m backstroke, 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle and 400 m fr ...

Claire Cashmore Claire Cashmore, (born 21 May 1988) is a Paralympic Swimming Champion and PTS5 classified British paratriathlete. She has been to four Paralympic Games with swimming and has won 4 bronze, 3 silver, and 1 gold medal. Cashmore also broke the wo ...

and Louise Watkin. Millward was named as part of a 44-swimmer squad to compete for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

in London, United Kingdom. At the Games she won her first Paralympic medal, a silver, in the 100 m backstroke S9. This was followed by four further medals. She won bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (34pts), swimming with Cashmore, Watkin and Susie Rodgers; a silver in 400 m freestyle S9, finishing behind South African

Natalie Du Toit Natalie du Toit OIG MBE (; born 29 January 1984) is a South African swimmer. She is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She was one of two Paralympians to compete at the 2008 S ...

; another silver came as she once again finished behind du Toit in the SM9 200 m individual medley in a new European record time of four minutes, 4.40 seconds. Her fifth and final medal came in the 100-metre medley relay (34 pts) swimming with Frederiksen, Cashmore and Watkin. The British quartet were in fourth place heading into the final leg but Watkin came through to finish in second place, three hundredths of a second behind the winning team from Australia. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, Millward won her first Paralympic gold medals, in the 100m backstroke S8 and the women's medley relay 34pts. At the same Games, she won silver in the 200m individual medley SM8 and bronze in the 400m freestyle S8 and 100m freestyle S8. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to swimming.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Millward, Stephanie 1981 births Living people English female swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games S8-classified para swimmers Members of the Order of the British Empire Team Bath swimmers Team Bath Paralympic athletes Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming People with multiple sclerosis Sportspeople from Jeddah British female backstroke swimmers British female butterfly swimmers British female medley swimmers Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games