Lianna Catherine Swan, OLY (born 25 March 1997 in

Awali Awali is a small municipality located approximately in the centre of the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small island in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company, it is populated mostly by workers of various nationalities ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

)Lianna Swan: Flying the flag for Pakistani Swimming
Sports 360 25 July 2013 Retrieved 24 July 2014 is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i swimmer who holds seven Pakistani national records. She specialises in breaststroke. In July/August 2014, she represented Pakistan at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, UK. Lianna also represented Pakistan in

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

in Guwahati,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Lianna represented

at the

Rio Olympics 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

and

Tokyo Olympics 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Women's 50m freestyle.

Background

Swan was born in Bahrain to a Pakistani mother, Nadia and a British father. She is a dual national of both the UK and Pakistan. She took up swimming 6 years ago when she moved to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

.Pakistan Swan targets glory at the Commonwealth Games
Dawn 23 July 2014 Retrieved 23 July 2014 She completed her

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s in Dubai at Jumeirah College. Swan explained her decision to opt for Pakistan: "I would get a lot more out of being part of the Pakistan team because there’s a lot more people trying for the British team. The British team is really prestigious as well, but being able to swim for your country, any country, is an achievement. I think when I first started swimming for Pakistan, that was the turning point for me."

Career

National

Swan won 9 gold and 3 silver medals during the National Championships held in June 2014. This qualified her for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

International

Swan has competed in the 2010 Asian Games; the 2011 FINA World Cup in Dubai, UAE and 2013 FINA World Aquatics Championships in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Swan will participate in 5 events: breaststroke - 50m & 100m; freestyle - 50m & 100m and individual medley - 200m, at the Glasgow Games in 2014. In her first event: 50m breaststroke, she broke her own national record of 00.37.11National Women's Open Swimming Records
Pakistan Swimming Federation Retrieved 24 July 2014 by swimming her heat in 00.35.72 and placing third.
Glasgow Commonwealth Games Official website. Retrieved 24 July 2014 In the 100m freestyle event on 27 July 2014, she broke her own national record of 01:03:52 by swimming her heat in 01:03:32 and placing 6th.
Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 official website. Retrieved 27 July 2014 In February 2016, Lianna won gold medal in the women's 200m breaststroke in

National records

Freestyle

100m: 01:03:32 - Glasgow Commonwealth Games - 2014

Breaststroke

50m: 00:35:72 - Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, UK - 2014
100m: 01:19:61 - 15th FINA World Championships, Barcelona, Spain - July 13
200m: 02:48:86 - 12 South Asian Games - 6 Feb 2016

Individual Medley

200m: 02:32:61 - 15th FINA World Championships, Barcelona, Spain - July 13

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Lianna 1997 births Living people Pakistani female swimmers British female swimmers Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Pakistan Pakistani people of British descent Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates British expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Female breaststroke swimmers British sportspeople of Pakistani descent Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Pakistan South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan South Asian Games silver medalists for Pakistan South Asian Games bronze medalists for Pakistan South Asian Games medalists in swimming Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain British expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain