Susannah Claire "Suki" Brownsdon (born 16 October 1965) is an English former competitive swimmer who won a silver medal in the women's 100-metre breaststroke at the 1981 European Championships, and represented Great Britain at four consecutive

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, with her best results being sixth place in the 100-metre breaststroke final in 1980 and seventh place in the 200-metre breaststroke final in 1984. She also represented England at three

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, winning a total of five medals.

Early life

Brownsdon attended

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

from 1982 to 1984.

Career

Brownsdon's first Olympic experience was as a 14-year-old at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, where she finished sixth in the 100-metre breastroke final. At the 1981 European Championships, she won a silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke. Representing

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia, she won a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke and a silver medal in the medley relay, along with Catherine White,

Ann Osgerby Ann Osgerby (born 20 January 1963), later known by her married name Ann Osgerby Inge, is an English former butterfly swimmer. Swimming career Osgerby represented Great Britain at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1980. She also re ...

and

June Croft June Alexandra Croft (born 17 June 1963) is an English former freestyle swimmer. Swimming career Croft represented Great Britain at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1980. At her Olympic debut in Moscow, she won the silver med ...

. She also finished fourth in the 200-metre breaststroke final. 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 sec ...

in Los Angeles, Brownsdon reached the final of the 200-metre breaststroke, finishing seventh. In the spring of 1985, she won the US Short Course 200-metre breaststroke title. She then went on to finish seventh in both the 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke finals at the 1985 European Championships. She missed out on individual medals for

at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth in the 100-metre breaststroke and fifth in the 200-metre. She did though, win a gold medal in the 4x100-metre medley relay, along with Caroline Cooper,

Nicola Fibbens Nicola Fibbens (born 29 April 1964) is a British swimmer. Swimming career Fibbens competed in four events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. She represented England and won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay, at the 1982 Commonwealt ...

and Simone Hindmarsh. She again reached both individual finals at the 1987 European Championships, finishing fifth in the 100-metre and eighth in the 200-metre. Brownsdon competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, where she reached the B Final of the 100-metre breaststroke, placing 16th overall. In the 200-metre breaststroke and 400-metre individual medley events, she was eliminated in the heats, placing 20th and 18th overall. later that year, she won US Open titles in the 100-metre breaststroke and 4x100-metre medley relay. In 1989, she reached both breaststroke finals at the European Championships for the third consecutive time, finishing eighth in both. At the 1990 Commonwealth Games as part of the England team, she took her Commonwealth medal tally to five, winning a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke final and a silver medal in the 4x100-metre medley relay, with

Joanne Deakins Joanne Cara Deakins (born 20 November 1972) is an English former competitive swimmer. Swimming career Deakins specialised in the backstroke and represented Great Britain at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atla ...

, Madeleine Scarborough and

Karen Pickering Karen Denise Pickering, MBE (born 19 December 1971) is a former freestyle swimmer from Great Britain. Swimming career She made her international senior debut in 1986. She was first selected to represent her country at the European Junior Cham ...

, replicating her achievements from the 1982 Games. She also finished sixth in the 200-metre breaststroke final. Brownsdon's fourth and final Olympic appearance was at 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, where she was eliminated in the heats of both breaststroke events, placing 23rd overall in the 100-metre and 21st in the 200-metre. She competed at the 1996 British Olympic trials but failed to earn selection for the Atlanta Olympics. She was very successful in the ASA National British Championships winning 12 titles; five in the 100 metres breaststroke (1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989), six in the 200 metres breaststroke (1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990) and the 400 metres medley title in 1989.

Personal life

Brownsdon was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. In 2003, she moved to

, Australia, where her eldest son, Buster Sykes, became a national junior champion in the 200-metre breaststroke. Brownsdon frequently visits the UK and was part of the

Olympic torch relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was first performed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and has taken place prior to every Games since. Although in the pa ...

for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownsdon, Suki 1965 births Living people Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Female breaststroke swimmers Sportspeople from Banbury European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade bronze medalists for Great Britain People educated at Millfield Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games