Pascoe awarded Swimming New Zealand Swimmer of the Year

Star Para swimmer Sophie Pascoe has been awarded Swimming New Zealand’s Swimmer of the year.

The announcement came at the sport’s annual awards in Auckland on Saturday (8 April) night that followed the successful New Zealand Open Championships that doubled as a selection event for both able-bodied and Para swimmers for key upcoming events.

Pascoe enjoyed a remarkable 2016 where she became the most decorated New Zealand Paralympian in history.

She won three gold medals and two silvers at the Rio Paralympics that took her medal tally to 15 that include nine gold medals. Her five medals made her the equal 10th most successful Paralympian at Rio from the 4,350 athletes at the Games.

At the end of the year Pascoe was ranked number one in the world for the 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley, and she holds four world records and 10 Oceania records.