Karen Pickering’s achievements
are quite remarkable. She represented Britain at a senior level for 20
years during which time she won more major championship medals for
Britain than any other female swimmer and won the most Commonwealth
medals for England of any female athlete in any sport. She was also the
first British female swimmer to win a World Championship title when she
took gold in the 200m freestyle in 1993.
Karen made her international debut in 1986 and went on to win an
incredible 73 titles on the national and international stages. She was
four times World Champion, won 14 European Championship medals, 38
British Championship titles and 13 Commonwealth Games medals including 4
Gold. The 2002 Commonwealth Games saw Karen gain two gold and a silver
medal in front of her home crowd, a career highlight that was crowned
when she was given the honour of carrying the English flag at the
Closing Ceremony. Her career has been an eventful one. As well as an
amazing medal haul she has twice held a World Record, she competed at
four consecutive Olympic Games, which few athletes in any sport have
done and in 1994 she was awarded an MBE for services to swimming.
Since
her retirement from international swimming in 2005, Karen has become regular
member of the BBC Radio 5 Live commentary team and has taken on a number of
roles. She is Chair of the British Athletes Commission, and is on the executive
board of the English Institute of Sport, the BOA-Athletes Commission and LOCOG’s
Athletes Commission. Karen is also very much in demand as a motivational and
after dinner speaker and is a popular choice for hosting events. Drawing on a
vast career, Karen is able to deliver messages drawing parallels between the
sporting and business worlds. She understands the importance of a balance
between individual and team performance and is able to adapt presentations to
suit client’s needs. A humorous, poignant and inspirational speaker, Karen’s
views will motivate and inspire any audience.
One of Karen’s proudest achievements since retiring is founding the
Splash Awards, an annual black tie event that recognises and celebrates
the achievements of elite swimmers (able bodied & disabled), divers,
waterpolo players and synchronised swimmers. Most recently Karen
launched her own learn to swim school, to encourage the next generation
of youngsters to take part in the sport she loves and maybe follow in
her footsteps. Karen Pickering SWIM caters for all age groups and
abilities as well as offering a consultancy service to teams and
athletes in other sports who want to improve their cross training,
recovery or injury rehabilitation work.
