Rikke Møller Pedersen (born 9 January 1989) is a Danish retired competitive
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 ...
who specialised in
breaststroke
Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...
. She held the 200 m breaststroke world record (long course) from 2013 to 2021.Rikke Pedersen's profile at the Olympic Games 2012 official site
Career
In 2009, Møller Pedersen won a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the
European Short Course Swimming Championships
The European Short Course Swimming Championships, variously referred to informally as the "Short Course Europeans" or "European 25m Championships", are a swimming meet, organized by LEN. The meet features swimmers from Europe, competing in event ...
.
In 2010, she won a
Bronze Medal
A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...
in the 200 m breaststroke at the World Short Course Swimming Championships, while she placed second in the 100 m breaststroke and third in the 200 m breaststroke at the
European Aquatics Championships
The European Aquatics Championships is the continental Aquatic sports, Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organised by Ligue Européenne de Natation, LEN—the governing body for aquatics in Europe. The Championships are currently held eve ...
Silver Medal
A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...
in the 100 m breaststroke.
In 2012, Møller Pedersen competed at the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
Chartres
Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...
she placed first in the 100 m breaststroke and she set the European record with a time of 1:04.12.
In this edition of the European Short Course Championships, she also won the 200 m breaststroke and the 4×50 m medley relay events, while she placed second in the 50 m breaststroke.
At the 2012 World Short Course Swimming Championships in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, she won the 200 m breaststroke event with a winning time of
2:16.08, the new championship record. In Istanbul, she also placed third in the 100 m breaststroke and first in the 4 × 100 m medley relay.
At the 2013 Danish Open Championships, she broke the European record in the 200 m breaststroke (long course) swimming in 2:20.53.
The previous record belonged to Russian
Yuliya Yefimova
Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova (, also Romanization of Russian, romanized Efimova; born 3 April 1992) is a Russian competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the List of Russian records in swimming, Russian record holder in the 200 metre Medley ...
who had set a time of 2:20.92 at the 2012 London Olympics.
At the
2013 World Aquatics Championships
The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Rebecca Soni's 200 m breaststroke world record in the semifinals with 2:19.11, but she finished 2nd in the final behind Russian
Yuliya Yefimova
Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova (, also Romanization of Russian, romanized Efimova; born 3 April 1992) is a Russian competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the List of Russian records in swimming, Russian record holder in the 200 metre Medley ...
with a time of 2:20.08.
At the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in Rio de Janeiro, she won a bronze medal as a part of the 4 × 100 m medley relay alongside
Jeanette Ottesen
Jeanette Ottesen (born 30 December 1987) is a Danish competitive swimmer who participated at the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. In total, she has won 50 international medals.
Records
She currently holds the Danish record in th ...
Pernille Blume
Pernille Blume (; born 14 May 1994) is a Danish former swimmer specializing in sprint freestyle events. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she was the gold medalist in the women's 50 metre freestyle and won ...
. Here they also broke the European record with a time of 3:55.01.
In April 2017 Rikke Møller Pedersen competed in the Danish Open national qualifiers for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest. She took part in the 100 m breaststroke event and finished first with a time of 1:07.33, which qualified her for the World Championships.
Rikke Møller Pedersen competed in the 2017 Stockholm Swim Cup. In the 50 m breaststroke event she finished third with a time of 31.45. She won the 200 m breaststroke event by posting a time of 2:25.59.
After a distinguished career spanning over several Olympic Games, she announced her retirement in January 2019 via posts on her Facebook and Instagram profiles.