Nyree Kindred
Nyree Elise Kindred MBE is a Welsh swimmer who has competed in the Paralympic Games on four occasions winning ten medals.
Early life
Kindred took up swimming at the age of 5, having been taken to a swimming pool by her aunt. Kindred has a form of cerebral palsy and therefore competes in the S6, SM6 and SB5 classifications.Paralympic career
Kindred's first appearance at a Paralympics came at the 2000 Games in Sydney, where she won 3 medals, 2 silver and a bronze.At the 2004 Summer Paralympics Kindred won her first Paralympic gold medal in the S6 100 metres backstroke event, in a new Paralympic record time of 1:32.03. She followed this up with another gold in the 4×50 m medley 20 pts relay, silver medals in both the 100 m breaststroke SB5 and 200 m SM6 individual medley, and a bronze in the 400 m freestyle S6.
In the 100 metres S6 backstroke at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing Kindred was beaten into second place by Dutch swimmer Mirjam de Koning-Peper. Kindred explained her defeat by saying "My legs were spasming, but to be honest, there are no excuses for that,... I should have gone quicker but it just wasn't there tonight". In addition to this medal winning performance Kindred also reached the finals of the 100 m breaststroke SB5, 200 m SM6 individual medley and 400 m freestyle S6. In April 2012 she qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the S6 100m backstroke. In the final she finished second to collect the silver medal with a time of 1:26.23.
On top of her success at the Paralympics, Kindred has won seven International Paralympic Committee World Championship medals and seven European Championship medals.