Helena Gasson

Helena Gasson (born 8 December 1994) is a New Zealand swimmer who has qualified to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the women's 100 metre butterfly.

Personal life

Gasson was born on 8 December 1994 in Auckland, New Zealand and grew up in Waikato.^[1] She attends the University of Waikato where she is studying for a Bachelor degree in Sport and Leisure Studies as part of the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship Programme.^[2]

Career

Gasson is a member of the North Shore Swimming Club. In 2013 she won a silver medal in the 200 metre butterfly event at the New Zealand Open Champsionships. In 2014 she again won the 200 metre butterfly silver medal and also finished second in the 400 metre individual medley event. At the 2015 Championships she won four national titles, in the 200 metre and 400 metre individual medley and the 100 metre and 200 metre butterfly.^[1]

At the 2016 New Zealand open swimming championships she broke the national record in the women's 100 metre butterfly in her heat, reaching the qualifiction standard for the 2016 Summer Olympics in the process. Her finishing time of 58.66 seconds was 8/100ths of a second under the qualifying time for the Olympics, and 5/100ths of a second fater than the previous national record set by Sophia Batchelor in 2012.^[3] She broke her own national record in the heats of the 200 metre butterfly; her time of two minutes 9.84 seconds was over a second faster than her previous best but she missed out on the qualifying time for Olympics by under half a second.^[4][5] She went on to win national titles in the 100 metre butterfly, 400 metre individual medley and the 50 metre butterfly and finished second in the 200 metre butterfly.^[1]

On 15 April 2016 Gasson was named as one of five Olympic debutants in a squad of eight swimmers to represent New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she is due to compete in the women's 100 metre butterfly.^[6][7]

References