Annamay Pierse (born December 5, 1983) is a former competitive swimmer who represented Canada in major international swimming championships including the Summer Olympics, FINA World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Annamay Pierse | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | "Anners", "Anna” | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Toronto, Ontario | December 5, 1983||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Pacific Dolphins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of British Columbia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Pierse grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, and attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the oldest of five sisters – all competitive swimmers – with one older and one younger brother.
Pierse was a breaststroke specialist and the holder of several Canadian records both long course and short course. She was formerly the world record-holder in the 200-metre long course breaststroke until Rebecca Soni beat her time by 12 hundredths of a second during the 200-metre semifinals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[1]
On April 2, 2008, she placed first at the Canadian Olympic Trials in 100-metre breaststroke thereby qualifying her for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she finished in sixth in the final of the 200-metre breaststroke. She was also a member of the Canadian team that finished seventh in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay.
She is married to Olympic paddler, Mark Oldershaw.
2008 Summer Olympics
editPierse represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics and competed in the following events:
Event | Results |
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100 meter breaststroke | 10th, 1:08.27 |
200 meter breaststroke | 6th, 2:23.77 |
4×100 meter medley relay | 7th, 4:01.35 (2:08.26) |
2009 Canadian Nationals
editOn March 14, 2009, at the University of Toronto pool, Pierse broke the world short course record in the 200 m breaststroke. Posting a time of 2:17.50. The Previous record was 2:17.75 belonging to Leisel Jones.
She was awarded a new Pontiac Car from a local dealer sponsoring the event who promised a new car to any athlete breaking a world record. A local Speedo dealer also awarded her $2,500 for the feat.
Thanks to this achievement, Pierse also won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) female athlete of the year award for 2008–09.
2009 World Aquatics Championships
editPierse set a new world mark in the 200 m long course breaststroke at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, with a time of 2:20.12 in the semi-finals. 1/10 of a second faster than the previous world record, Rebecca Soni set at the Beijing Olympics. However, in the finals, she faded down the final 50m and placed second (2:21.84) to the surprise victor Nadja Higl of Serbia.
2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
editPierse brought home a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke from these Championships; Being behind Rebecca Soni, and Leisel Jones. Pierse said that this Pan Pac Bronze medal was more memorable than winning her World Championship medal. She had a rough year due to an illness and missed months of training.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Soni sets world record in 200 breast semifinals". U.S. News & World Report. 2012-08-01. Archived from the original on 2018-11-28.
- ^ "ESPN - Annamay Pierse - Olympics Athletes - 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China". Archived from the original on 2008-09-26.
External links
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