Germany’s Britta Steffen: freestyle gold medalist
Britta Steffen is one of the most talented and dynamic swimmers to come out of Germany. She has competed multiple times at the highest level of swimming including the Olympic Games, World Long Course Championships, European Long Course Championships and
Summer Universiade. Her dominating performance coupled with an extensive training program has earned her many awards and accolades throughout her career.
The 27-year-old German star first appeared on the international stage as a part of the 4*200m freestyle German team, which was going to take part in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Steffen dominated her 200m freestyle swim in the relay and won a bronze medal in
the event as a part of relay team. The same year, her performance escalated and she won a silver medal at the World Short Course Championships in Athens in the 4*100m freestyle relay event.
She then disappeared from the swimming to concentrate more on her studies, but the talent in her veins could not stop her for a long time and she started preparing for competitive swimming at her university. Steffen then emerged at the international stage
of the European Long Course Championships, where she participated in five swims and proved her dominance in every event. She made a stunning appearance by improving the world record for the 100m freestyle in a time of 53.30 seconds and occupied three more
gold medals in the 50m freestyle, 4*100m freestyle relay and the 4*200m freestyle relay. She also reached the podium for a silver medal in the 4*100m medley relay at these championships.
Steffen then competed at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok and with her great swimming power and beautiful strokes, she won two gold medals in the women’s 50m and 100m freestyle.
Her fantastic performance at the event qualified her to represent her beloved country at the 2007 World Long Course Championships in Melbourne, where Steffen won a silver medal in the 4*200m freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle.
In 2008, at the Beijing Olympic Games, Steffen for the first time made a tremendous performance at the world’s biggest event. She conquered the title for the 50m freestyle in a time of 24.06 seconds that was only 0.01 seconds ahead of the great American
swimming legend Dara Torres. Steffen also won the title for the 100m freestyle in a record time of 53.12 seconds that improved the Australian Libby Trickett’s world record of 53.38 seconds.
In 2009, Steffen continued her thrilling performance to sustain the record-breaking phase of the freestyle events. She improved her own record of the 100m freestyle by nearly one second, lowering it to 52.22 seconds in the start of the season. Four days
later, at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Steffen again improved her world record for the 100m event by 0.15 seconds and clocked 52.07 seconds to claim the gold medal in the championship. She also broke the record for the 50m freestyle, touching the
wall in a time of 23.73 seconds. The world champion enabled Germany to occupy a silver medal in the 4*100m freestyle relay and secure a bronze medal in the 4*100m medley relay.
In 2010, performance of the world champion deteriorated and at the European Short Course Championships, she won two silver medals in the 4*50m freestyle relay and the 4*50m medley relay and two bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle respectively.
In 2011, Steffen is still a part of the German Swimming Team and she aims to keep the flag of her country high at the 2011 Shanghai World Championships in July, where the world’s best swimmers will battle each other for the titles. Steffen has adopted an
extensive training program and is working very hard to regain her world titles in July.
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