Dame Sophie Frances Pascoe (born 8 January 1993) is a retired New Zealand para-swimmer. She represented New Zealand at four

Summer Paralympic Games The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

from

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, winning a total of eleven gold medals, seven silver medals and one bronze medal, making her New Zealand's most successful Paralympian. She also represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

on 8 January 1993 to Garry and Jo Pascoe, Pascoe grew up on a

lifestyle block A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block, acreage living, or rural residential) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to n ...

near

Halswell Originally a separate village, Halswell is now a residential suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located southwest of Cathedral Square on State Highway 75. History Halswell is named after Edmund Halswell QC (1790–1874), a government off ...

on the south-western outskirts of the city. She has one older sister, Rebecca. On 23 September 1995, Pascoe was accidentally run over by her father on the family ride-on lawnmower. As a result of the accident, her left leg was amputated below the knee, while the rear of her right leg was left with severe scarring. She attended Halswell Primary School, and Lincoln High School in the nearby Christchurch satellite town of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

. Pascoe began swimming at the age of 7, and from the age of 8 up until 2022, was coached by Roly Crichton. She trains at the QEII swim club, which has been based at Jellie Park in Burnside since the facilities at

Queen Elizabeth II Park Queen Elizabeth II Stadium was a multi-use stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand, located in a large park called Queen Elizabeth II Park. The stadium had a capacity of 25,000 people and was built in 1973 to host the 1974 British Commonwealth Ga ...

were damaged in the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

Swimming career

Pascoe is classified

S10 S10 may refer to: Automobiles * Chevrolet S-10, a pickup truck * Nissan Silvia (S10), a sports car * Toyota Crown (S10), a luxury car Aviation * Lake Chelan Airport, in Chelan County, Washington, United States * Letov Š-10, a Czech trainer a ...

for freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, SB9 for breaststroke, and SM10 for individual medley. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Pascoe won a gold and a silver medal for the 100 m breaststroke and 100 m butterfly respectively and later a gold for the women's 200 m individual medley. Pascoe then shared a gold medal for the 100 m backstroke when she drew with South African

Shireen Sapiro Shireen Sapiro (born 25 January 1991 in Krugersdorp) is a South African Paralympic swimmer, most notable for her performance at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning a gold medal for the 100 m backstroke. She also claimed a bronze medal at t ...

. At 15 years of age, Pascoe was New Zealand's youngest athlete at the Paralympics, and the youngest ever New Zealander to win a medal. Following the 2008 Paralympics, Pascoe was voted New Zealand's favourite Paralympian in a nationwide voting competition run by Mitsubishi Motors. For this she won a Mitsubishi VRX Outlander. Pascoe 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 on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

in the 2009 New Year's Honours, for services to swimming. In February 2012, Pascoe became the inaugural winner of the Disabled Sportsperson of the Year award at the 2011

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 ...

. At 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 ...

, Pascoe competed in six events – the four in which she won medals at the 2008 Paralympics, plus the 50m freestyle (S10) and 100m freestyle (SM10) events. She successfully defended her 200 m individual medley (SM10) gold medal, breaking her own world record by four seconds with a time of 2:25.65. She also won gold medals in the 100 m butterfly (S10), where she bettered her silver at Beijing and in the process setting a new world record with a time of 1:04.43, and in the 100 m freestyle (S10), setting a new Paralympic record with a time of 1:00.89. Pascoe won silver medals in the 50 m freestyle (S10), 100 m backstroke (S10), and 100 m breaststroke (SB9). In March 2013, Pascoe broke her own world record for the 50m butterfly at the New Zealand Swimming Championships in Auckland, setting a time of 29.21 seconds. 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 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Pascoe competed in five events, dropping the 100 m breaststroke SB9. She won gold medals in the 100 m backstroke, 100 m butterfly and 200 m individual medley, the latter in world record time. She also won silver medals in the 50 m freestyle and 100 m freestyle, both behind Canada's

Aurélie Rivard Aurélie Rivard (born May 14, 1996) is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer. (search for "Rivard") After winning three Paralympics gold medals, claiming a silver Paralympic medal and setting two World Records and a Paralympic Record at the 2016 Summer ...

. Her 50 m freestyle medal holds the distinction as the 200th medal won by New Zealand at the Paralympic Games (both summer and winter editions). Her success took her gold medal count to nine and her total medal count to 15, overtaking Eve Rimmer's eight gold medals and 14 total medals to become New Zealand's most successful Paralympian. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, she competed in the Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB8, winning the silver medal, and Women's 100 metre backstroke S9, winning the bronze medal. In the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Pascoe was promoted to

Dame Companion 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 on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to swimming. Pascoe announced her retirement on 30 January 2025.

Personal bests

Major achievements

*2022: One gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (100 m freestyle) *2019: Four gold medals at the

World Para Swimming Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known also as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Prev ...

in London. *2018: Two gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (4x50m individual medley, 100m Breaststroke) *2017: Winner of the ''

Halberg Award 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 Murray Halberg, Sir Murray Halberg. The initia ...

'' for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year *2016: Five medals at the 2016 Paralympics, three gold and two silver. *2015: Winner of the ''

'' for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year *2014: Two gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games (4x50m individual medley, 100m Breaststroke) *2013: Winner of the ''

'' for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year *2012: Three gold medals (100 m freestyle-S10, 100 m butterfly-S10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); three silver medals (50 m freestyle-S10, 100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9) –

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

(IPC) – Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom; Winner of the ''

'' for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year. Named as an ambassador for Beef and Lamb New Zealand. *2011: Winner of the ''

'' for Disabled Sportsperson of the Year *2010: Gold medal (100 m butterfly-S10); three silver medals (50 m freestyle-S10, 100 m backstroke-S10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); bronze medal (100 m breaststroke-SB9) – IPC World Championships, Eindhoven, Netherlands *2009: Four gold medals (100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m butterfly-S10, 100 m individual medley-SM10, 200 m individual medley-SM10); three bronze medals (100 m freestyle-S10, 400 m freestyle-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9) – IPC World Championships – 25 m, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil *2008: Three gold medals (100 m backstroke-S10, 100 m breaststroke-SB9, 200 m individual medley-SM10); Silver (100 m butterfly-S10) –

(IPC) – Paralympic Games, Beijing, China *2006: Bronze (200 m individual medley-SM10) – IPC World Championships, Durban, South Africa

References

External links

* *
archive
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pascoe, Sophie 1993 births Living people New Zealand female swimmers New Zealand amputees Paralympic swimmers for New Zealand S10-classified para swimmers Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit World record holders in paralympic swimming Paralympic gold medalists for New Zealand Paralympic silver medalists for New Zealand Paralympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers from Christchurch People educated at Lincoln High School, New Zealand Paralympic medalists in swimming Sportspeople awarded damehoods Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen