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Cassandra Patten - British Freestyle Swimmer and Coach
Cassie is one of only 3 British swimming athletes to have ever won an Olympic medal for the 10km open water swimming marathon. Originally from Cornwall, she is one of open water swimming's true legends.
Growing up in Cornwall Cassie always loved water, she would always be found in the nearest river or paddling in the sea. She is extremely dyslexic and found school a struggle, so her swimming lessons became her Solace. After progressing through her swimming lessons she joined her local swimming club and her passion for competitive swimming was ignited.
Cassie’s international swimming career started in 2003 when she was the tender age of 16. She came 15th in the 200m Butterfly at the European Championships in Dublin. This was followed the year later by a 4th in the 800M freestyle at the World Short Course Championships in Indianapolis.
Her desire to perform well on the world stage was ignited, so she poured her heart and soul into training. This hard work payed off at the British Championships in 2006, she won a bronze in the 400m IM and silver in the 800m Freestyle.
Cassie made the jump into open water in 2006, soon making her mark on the 10km distance. In 2007 Patten won silver in the 10km open water swimming event at the World Championships in Melbourne, despite being stung all over by jellyfish. A year later she took silver once more, at the 2008 Open Water World Championships.
Cassie Patten represented Great Britain at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the 800m freestyle where she came 8th and in the 10km open water swimming event, where she won her Bronze medal.
Cassie also made history as the first swimmer in the world to both final in the pool and medal in the open water event.
Since retiring from swimming she has taken up coaching, which has seen her travel all over Europe delivering coaching sessions. Along side her coaching career she has a growing career as a sports commentator. Cassie was the lead swimming pundit at the London Olympic Games for Sky Sports News in 2012.
"Swimming was my whole life for over 20 years. I poured every ounce of enthusiasm into it. I am so fortunate to have found these new outlets for that enthusiasm."
