Siobhan-Marie O’Connor
Siobhan-Marie O’Conner was born Nov. 29, 1995, and is an extremely versatile British swimmer. O’Conner has represented Great Britain in nearly every stroke at an international competition, winning medals and placing high in events including the 100m breaststroke, 200m IM, 100m freestyle, and 200m freestyle.
Fun facts
O’Conner has said that her role model is Rebecca Adlington, and she aspires to win an Olympic gold medal. Since she’s so talented and versatile, it only makes sense that her favorite event is the 200m IM. She’s also interested in fashion, and if she weren’t swimming, she would be studying at the London College of Fashion. O’Conner also enjoys traveling, eating out and baking, going so far as to refer to herself as a “foodie.”
Early career
O’Conner made her international debut when she made two finals at the 2010 Junior European Championships in Belgrade. The following year she won gold in the 200m IM at the ASA Nationals, securing her spot on the World Championship Team. At those 2011 World Championships, O’Conner made it to the semi-finals of the 200m IM, finishing 13th overall.
London Olympics
While shooting to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, O’Conner originally had banked on her specialty, the 200m IM, but she failed to qualify after suffering extreme nerves. After some persuasion from Coach Dave McNulty, she gave it a long shot to qualify in the 100m breaststroke. O’Conner ended up qualifying in the 100m breaststroke, competing as the youngest British swimmer on the team at just 16 years old. In London she finished 21st in the 100m breaststroke and eighth as a member of the 400m medley relay.
First international medal
Later in 2012 after the Olympics O’Conner finished with a bronze medal in the 100m IM at the 2012 European Short Course Championships.
2013-2014 Championship meets
In 2013 O’Conner qualified for the World Championships in Barcelona, finishing eighth in the 200m IM. More recently O’Conner won her first British titles in 2014 – she won both the 200m freestyle and the 200m IM.
Commonwealth Games
At her first Commonwealth Games in Scotland, O’Conner won six medals including a gold in the 200m IM, and silver in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle. She was only upstaged by one swimmer, Chad Le Clos, who won seven medals in seven events.
2015 FINA World Championships
O’Conner continued to climb the rankings in 2015. In Kazan she won her first World Championship medals with a gold in the 400 meter mixed medley relay and a bronze in the 200 meter IM.
2016 Rio Olympics
O’Connor surprised many by winning the silver medal in the 200M individual medley, just three tenths of a second behind the Iron Lady, Katinka Hosszu, and 1.9 seconds ahead of bronze medal winner, Maya Dirado of the US. O’Connor broke the British record in her medal winning swim.