Hannah Russell

Para Swimming

Region

Ottershaw
Date of Birth

04/08/1993
Classification

S12, SB12, SM12

Bio

Hannah Russell made her Paralympic debut in front of the home crowd at London 2012, winning one silver and two bronze medals, and has continued to add to her medal haul since.

Russell landed her first international gold in 2013, topping the podium in the 100m backstroke S12 on her IPC Swimming World Championship debut in 2013. She also demonstrated her strength in the S12 classification by scooping three silvers (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly) and a bronze (400m freestyle) in Montreal.

Russell went on to take the world title in the 50m freestyle S12 at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, as well as a further two silvers in the 100m freestyle S12 and the 100m backstroke S12.

Hannah returned to compete at her second Paralympic Games at Rio 2016, and completed her set of medals by winning gold for the first time.

She took her first Paralympic title in the 100m backstroke S12, lowering her own world record by nine tenths to take gold with a time of 1:06.06.

In her second event, the 20 year old set a time of 1:00.07 in the 100m freestyle S13 to finish third behind Anna Stetsenko of the Ukraine in first and USA’s Rebecca Meyers in second.

As Rio 2016 drew to a close, Hannah won her second gold of the Games with a time of 27.53 in the 50m freestyle S12. She finished 0.85 seconds ahead of Germany’s Naomi Maike Schnittger in second place.

Russell once again showed her class at Tokyo 2020 defending her S12 100m backstroke title from Rio, while also claiming bronze in the S12 100m freestyle final.

Major Results

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

50m freestyle S13: 6th
100m backstroke S12: Gold
100m freestyle S12: bronze

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

100m backstroke S12: Gold
100m freestyle S13: Bronze
50m freestyle S12: Gold

London 2012 Paralympic Games

400m freestyle S12: Silver
100m backstroke S12: Bronze
100m butterfly S12: Bronze
100m freestyle S12: 6th
50m freestyle S12: 4th

Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships

50m freestyle S12: gold
100m backstroke S12: silver
100m freestyle S13: silver
200m individual medley SM13: 4th

Montreal 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships

50m freestyle S12: silver
100m backstroke S12: gold
100m freestyle S12: silver
100m butterfly S12: silver
400m freestyle S12: bronze

Sign up to our email list to get updates on the team and the inside track on our sporting heroes – We're building a movement, with your support, to break down barriers for disabled people across the UK.

First Name

Last Name

Email address

I am over 18 and would like to receive emails about news, fundraising and how I can get involved with ParalympicsGB