Susannah Elizabeth Joy Rodgers, (born 9 August 1983) is a British

Paralympic swimmer Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming (sport), swimming for athletes with disability, disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Swimming at the Summer Paralympics, Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions through ...

. She competes in S7 classification events and won three bronze medals 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 ...

and a gold 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 ...

Personal life

Rodgers was born on 9 August 1983 in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

, England. She was born without a fully formed arm or leg on the left side of her body. Susie was announced as a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

in 2018, a year after her retirement from professional sport in 2017. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in modern languages from the University of Newcastle and is able to speak Catalan, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. She combined her swimming career with a job as a project manager for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. She is a qualified non-executive director through

the Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

NED programme, amongst other roles.

Swimming

Rodgers first learned to swim when living in Egypt as a child but did not take up competitive swimming until she was inspired by watching the British team at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. She competes in the S7 Paralympic classification for swimmers with a physical impairment. Her first appearance at an international event came at the 2011 IPC European Championships held in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. At the meet Rodgers won six medals, five gold and one silver. She won individual gold in the 400 metres freestyle, in a new European record time, and relay gold in the 34pt 4×100 m freestyle alongside

Louise Watkin Louise Stephanie Watkin (née Niklasson; born 13 August 1992 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a British Paralympic swimmer. Watkin swims in the S9 category and represented Great Britain in the 2012 Summer Paralympics, in which she won two silver and two ...

Lauren Steadman Lauren Steadman (born 18 December 1992) is a British Paralympic athlete who has competed in four Summer Paralympics, in both swimming and the paratriathlon. She competed at both the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Paralym ...

and Claire Cashmore. Her second individual gold medal came in the 100 metres backstroke as she set a time of 1:26.09, a new British record, to beat German world record holder

Kirsten Bruhn Kirsten Bruhn (born 3 November 1969 in Eutin) is a former German female Paralympic swimmer. She learnt to swim when she was three. She began competing at ten before an accident in 1991. She was hurt during a holiday motorcycle trip on the island ...

into second place. She won her fourth gold medal by setting a new European record time of 36.74 seconds in the 50 metres butterfly, and followed it with her fifth in the 100 metres freestyle. She also won a silver medal in the 50 metres freestyle. She was selected to compete for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The c ...

in London, United Kingdom, as part of a 44-swimmer squad. At the Games she competed in the 50, 100 and 400 freestyle, the 50 meters butterfly, the 100 metres backstroke and the 4×100 m freestyle relay. Rodgers won bronze medals in the

100 metres freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics, symbolizing the pinnacle of speed and athleticism in swimming competitions. The first swimm ...

and the relay, alongside Cashmore, Watkin and

Stephanie Millward Stephanie Millward (born 20 September 1981) is a British former Paralympic swimmer. At the age of 17 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). As a result, she competed in the S9 (classification) Paralympic classification. Since 12 Jun ...

. She completed a hat trick of bronze medals by finishing third in the 400 metres freestyle, setting new European records in both the heats and the final, to win Great Britain's one hundredth medal of the Games. She also achieved finishes of fourth in the butterfly and sixth in the backstroke. In 2013 Rodgers was selected to represent Great Britain again, this time at the

IPC Swimming World 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 Montreal. In her three individual freestyle events; the 50 m S7, 100 m S7 and the 400 m S7 she was beaten into silver on each occasion by American

Cortney Jordan Cortney Jordan (born June 24, 1991 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American swimmer. Swimming career Jordan broke onto the international swimming scene when she won bronze in the 50, 100, and 400 metre freestyles at 2006 World Championships. Two ...

. In her only butterfly event, the 50 m S7, she again took second place, this time losing the top podium place to Canada's

Brianna Nelson Brianna Nelson (born 9 May 1992) is a S7 classified Canadian para-swimmer who has competed in the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics. She was introduced to swimming by her cycling coach and had won two silver medals and one gold in the Paralympics and th ...

. Rodgers left Canada with one more medal, taking the gold in the 4x100 m freestyle relay (34 points) alongside

, Claire Cashmore and Amy Marren. The second and third places in the 100m relay went to Canada and the US, those teams contained both Nelson and Jordan. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

, Rodgers won gold in the women's 50m butterfly S7, and a bronze in both the women's 400m freestyle S7 and women's 50m freestyle S7 She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) 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 services to swimming. In 2012, she was granted the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

having been nominated by the Honorary President of the

Guild of Young Freemen The Guild of Young Freemen of the City of London is a membership organisation that connects young individuals associated with the traditions of the Freedom of the City in the City of London. Founded in 1976 as the Society of Young Freemen of ...

, Sir David Wootton of which she was a member and

Mark Boleat Sir Mark John Boleat (born January 1949, in Jersey) is leader of the Jersey Alliance political party, and was a deputy chairman of the City of London Corporation's Policy and Resources Committee from 3 May 2012 to 4 May 2017. He has previously bee ...

.https://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/documents/s14714/Item%207%20Freedoms.pdf

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Susie 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Stockton-on-Tees English female freestyle swimmers British female freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics S7-classified para swimmers Members of the Order of the British Empire Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming British female butterfly swimmers 20th-century English women 21st-century English women English female butterfly swimmers 21st-century English sportswomen