Yanet Seyoum Gebremedhin (born 9 July 1994 in

Kombolcha Kombolcha () is a town and district in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1842 and 1915 meters above sea level. Some guide books describe Ko ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

) is an Ethiopian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She is the first swimmer from Ethiopia to compete in the Olympics. Yanet competed in the 50 meter freestyle at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and was the flag bearer of the Ethiopian team at the

2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the pr ...

Early life

Yanet was born and raised in Kombolcha, Ethiopia. She has an older brother Yemanebirhan Seyoum Gebremedhin. Her mother, Tsigework Abebe, works for Ethiotelecom and her father is a driver for an aid agency. Yanet's family frequently took leisure trips to the area's only pool. From the age of 12 Yanet was taught how to swim by her father and after winning a silver medal in a local competition she fell in love with the sport. She is studying engineering at

Addis Ababa Science and Technology University Addis Ababa Science and Technology University ( Amharic: አዲስ አበባ ሳይንስና ቴክኖሎጂ ዩኒቨርስቲ), or AASTU, is an Ethiopian higher institute in Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ...

Career

Yanet has won 40 gold, five silver and two bronze medals while competing in Ethiopian swimming competitions. After completing two World Championships, a World Youth Olympics and an All-African Games event in the last three years Yanet qualified for the Olympics from the world short-course championships in Dubai. She trained using the Olympic size swimming pool at the Ghion Hotel in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

with the help of her mother and the advise of her coach who called her from

Nazret Adama (Oromo language, Oromo: ' or ', Amharic: አዳማ), formerly Nazreth ( am, ናዝሬት), is a city in the central Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Located in the East Shewa Zone southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, the city sits between t ...

. At the 2012 Summer Olympics 50 meter freestyle Preliminary Rounds she ranked 65 out of 75 with a time of 32.41 s. She did not participate in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seyoum, Yanet Ethiopian female swimmers 1994 births Living people Olympic swimmers of Ethiopia Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Ethiopian female freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics