Nikita Stevie Howarth (born 24 December 1998) is a New Zealand para-cyclist and para-swimmer. She became New Zealand's youngest ever Paralympian after being selected for the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

, aged 13 years 8 months. She again represented New Zealand at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

, where she won the gold medal in the women's 200 metre individual medley SM7 and the bronze medal in the women's 50 metre butterfly S7.

Biography

Howarth was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, and resides in nearby

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. She has a congenital bilateral arm deficiency, with no right hand and her left arm ending below the elbow. She attended Cambridge High School. Howarth started swimming at age "three or four" and started swimming competitively at age seven. At age eight, she was inspired to compete at the Paralympics and win a gold medal after 2004 Olympic cycling gold medallist

Sarah Ulmer Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer (born 14 March 1976) is a New Zealand former competitive cyclist. She is the first New Zealander to win an Olympic cycling gold medal, which she won in the 3km individual pursuit at the 2004 Athens Olympics setting a wor ...

visited Howarth's school. She is classified S7 for freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, SB8 for breaststroke, and SM7 for individual medley.

Swimming

Howarth was selected to represent New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She competed in three events: the 50 m butterfly S7, the 100 m breaststroke SB8 and the 200 m individual medley SM7, qualifying for the finals in the latter event and finishing in sixth place. In 2013, Howarth won two medals at the IPC Swimming World Championships in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

: a gold medal in the 200 m individual medley SM7 and a bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly S7. She was selected to represent New Zealand at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Competing above her classifications, she came fifth (out of six) in the 100 m freestyle S8 and seventh (out of seven) in the 100 m breaststroke SB9. At the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was the eighth IPC Swimming World Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 ...

in Glasgow, Howarth won two gold medals in the 50 m butterfly S7 and the 200 m individual medley SM7, qualifying her for the

in Rio de Janeiro. She was officially confirmed to represent New Zealand at the Paralympics on 5 May 2016. While competing at the International German Championships in Berlin on 9 June 2016, Howarth set a new world record in the women's 100 m butterfly S7 with a time of 1:18.65, taking 1.49 seconds off the previous record set by American Mallory Weggemann in 2009. Howarth was a finalist for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year at the 2015

Halberg Awards The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award was han ...

. She was appointed a Member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, for her services to swimming.

Cycling

Following the 2016 Paralympic Games, Howarth switched her focus from para-swimming to para-cycling, and competed at the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships under the C4 classification. In December 2018, she set a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

in the C4 flying 200 m time trial event at the Southland Track Cycling Championships in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, New Zealand.

Personal bests

Swimming Cycling

References

External links

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Meet our youngest Paralympian, Nikita Howarth
Article at nzwomensweekly.co.nz
Meet Our Paralympians: Nikita Howarth
– Attitude Live video profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Howarth, Nikita 1998 births Congenital amputees Living people New Zealand amputees New Zealand female cyclists New Zealand female butterfly swimmers New Zealand female medley swimmers Paralympic swimmers for New Zealand Paralympic cyclists for New Zealand S7-classified para swimmers Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for New Zealand Paralympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Cambridge High School, New Zealand Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming People without hands Sportspeople from Cambridge, New Zealand Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand Cyclists from Waikato Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen