Alia Atkinson
Alia Shanee Atkinson, OD (born December 11, 1988) is a Jamaican swimmer and Olympian.
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Career
She competed at the 2004 Olympics in the 50 m freestyle and the 100 m breaststroke, and four years later in the 2008 Olympics she finished 25th in the women's 200-metre breaststroke.[1]
She carried the flag for her native country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she set the Jamaican record in the 100-metre butterfly; and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She also competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
She placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2010 NCAA Championships, swimming for Texas A&M.
She also qualified for the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke finals after defeating Canadian rival Tera van Beilen in a head to head race for the final position. She subsequently placed 4th in the finals of the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke finishing with a time of 1:06.93.[1]
Atkinson won the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2014 Short Course World Championships in Doha (equaling the record set by Rūta Meilutytė in 2013), becoming the first black woman to win a world swimming title.[2] That year she also won two medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, silver in the 50 m breaststroke and bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.[3] She also set two Commonwealth Games records in the heats and semifinal of the 50 m breaststroke.[3]
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she reached the final of the 100 m breaststroke.[4]
Atkinson is coached by Chris Anderson since 2001. Atkinson mostly trains in South Florida Aquatic Club swim team (Broward county, Florida) which is managed by her coach.
Atkinson is not related to Janelle Atkinson, who is a former Jamaican swimmer who also had a fourth-place finish at the 2000 Olympics.
International Swimming League
In 2019 Atkinson was member[5] of the 2019 International Swimming League representing Team Iron. She was a valuable member of the team winning the 50m breaststroke in all 3 matches the team competed in, and she also picked up two wins and one second place finish in the 100m breaststroke.
References
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alia Atkinson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
- Doha Worlds: Alia Atkinson earns historic Jamaica gold BBC Sport, 7 December 2014
- "Glasgow 2014 - Alia Atkinson Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
- "Rio 2016 - Women's 100m Breaststroke". www.rio2016.com. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- "ISL Team Iron Starts Loading Arsenal With Atkinson & Kromowidjojo". SwimSwam. 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
External links
- "2008 Olympics profile". Archived from the original on 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- Alia's bio from Texas A&M
- from the NCAA
- Alia Atkinson at FINA
- Alia Atkinson at the International Olympic Committee
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rūta Meilutytė |
Women's 100-metre breaststroke world record-holder (short course) 3 December 2014 – present (tied Meilutytė) |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Jessica Hardy |
Women's 50-metre breaststroke world record-holder (short course) 26 October 2016 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |