Hayley Gloria Palmer (born 8 May 1989 in Cheltenham) is an Olympian and National Record holding swimmer from New Zealand. She swam for NZ at the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Palmer was born in Cheltenham, England. However, both her parents are New Zealand nationals and they returned to New Zealand for two years when Palmer was young, before moving back to Cheltenham when she was 3. In Cheltenham, Palmer attended St Edwards School, and grammar school at the

High School for Girls Denmark Road High School (Formerly known as High School for Girls) is a girls' grammar school with Academy (English school), academy status on Denmark Road, Gloucester. It has a mixed sixth form and is one of only three girls' grammar schools in ...

, where she currently holds every school record in swimming. Palmer began swimming in England, before her return to New Zealand in 2007. Her international debut for New Zealand was at the 2008 Short Course Worlds in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in April 2008. Her coach for the majority of her swimming career in England was Graham Brookhouse. During her early teenage years she was a member of the Gloucester City Swimming Club. She currently swims for North Shore Swimming in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, and is coached by Randy Reese at Clearwater Aquatics in Florida. Palmer is a Latter-day Saint. She competed for New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. In the 2009 13th Fina World Swimming Championships she made the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle and placed 11th. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, Palmer won 2 bronze medals, in the 50m freestyle and 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. At the 2012 Olympics, she competed in the 50 m freestyle and the freestyle.

Swimming records

Palmer currently holds the following New Zealand Records: *Women's Long Course 50m Freestyle (25.01) *Women's Long Course 100m Freestyle (53.91) *Women's Short Course 50m Freestyle (24.39) *Women's Short Course 100m Freestyle (53.57)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Hayley 1989 births Living people English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand female swimmers Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for New Zealand Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Sportspeople from Cheltenham New Zealand Latter Day Saints People educated at the High School for Girls Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers from Auckland Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games