Rhiannon Leier (born May 30, 1977) is a Canadian former competition swimmer who specialized in breaststroke events.[1] She is a multiple-time Canadian record holder, a two-time finalist at the FINA World Championships (2001 and 2003), and a six-time NCAA All-American honoree. She also won a bronze medal, as a member of the Canadian swimming team, in the women's 4x100-metre medley relay at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama, Japan, clocking at 4:05.59.[2] Leier is also the granddaughter of former baseball player, track athlete, and ice hockey player Edward Leier, who played two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rhiannon Leier | ||||||||||||||
| National team |  Canada | ||||||||||||||
| Born | May 30, 1977 Regina, Saskatchewan | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Manitoba Marlins | ||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Miami | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leier made her first Canadian team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she competed in the women's 100-metre breaststroke, along with her teammate Christin Petelski. Leier, however, failed to qualify for the final, as she finished her semifinal run in eleventh place, with a time of 1:09.63.[3]
Four years later, Leier qualified for her second Canadian team, as a 27-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by breaking a Canadian record and attaining an A-standard time of 1:08.14 from the Olympic trials.[4][5] She finished twelfth overall in the semifinals of the women's 100 m breaststroke by a hundredth of a second (0.01) behind her teammate Lauren van Oosten, outside the Canadian record time of 1:09.46.[6]
Leier is also a member of the swimming team for Manitoba Marlins, and a former varsity swimmer for the Miami Hurricanes, while attending the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where she took up a major in pre-physical therapy. She worked as a resident swimming coach for the St. James Seals in Winnipeg, Manitoba until this past summer.[7]
Leier was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.[8]
References
edit- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rhiannon Leier". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ Thomas, Stephen (29 August 2002). "U.S. Men Have Last Word, Set World Mark in 400m Medley Relay as Pan Pacs End With a Bang". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 100m Breaststroke Semifinal 1" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 256. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Former UM Swimmer Makes Canadian Olympic Team". Atlantic Coast Conference. 7 July 2004. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Swimming – Women's 100m Breaststroke Startlist (Heat 6)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Women's 100m Breaststroke Semifinal 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- ^ Skerritt, Jen (23 January 2013). "City gets Olympic push to fix pools". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Rhiannon Leier-Blacher". Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame - Honoured members database. Sport Manitoba. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
External links
edit- Rhiannon Leier at Team Canada
- Player Bio – Miami Hurricanes
- Rhiannon Leier at World Aquatics
- Rhiannon Leier at Olympics.com
- Rhiannon Leier at Olympedia
- Rhiannon Leier at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
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