Stephanie Millward celebrates poolside in Rio with her gold medal

Stephanie Millward

Athlete Information

  • Region

    Corsham, Wiltshire

  • Date of Birth

    19/09/1981

  • Classification

    S9, SB8, SM9

Athlete main content

Stephanie Millward made her Paralympic debut at Beijing 2008, where she reached three finals in the S9 classification.

She was previously a successful non-disabled swimmer who featured on the British international team before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 17 years old. Millward built on her experience in Beijing to win five golds and a silver at the 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships in Reykjavik, Iceland, success that she built on in subsequent World and European Championships.

At London 2012 she took to the podium five times during the Games, winning one bronze and four silver medals.

Rio 2016

On her way to Rio 2016, Stephanie excelled at IPC Swimming European and World Championships, scooping substation medal hauls, and prior to those Games she excelled at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships, winning a medal of every colour in her individual events, plus gold in the medley relay. In the summer of 2016 she was classified down from the S9 classification to S8.

At Rio 2016, her third Games, she won her first individual Paralympic gold medal in the 100m backstroke S8. She also took silver in the 200m individual medley SM8, and two bronze medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle S8. She capped her most successful Games by enjoying team success in the medley relay, winning gold alongside Claire Cashmore, Stephanie Slater and Alice Tai.

In 2019 Stephanie became a double World champion as part of both the gold medal-winning 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay quartets, while also recorded two top-10 individual finishes.

In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded a MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours.

Major Results

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

  • 100m backstroke S9: 8th
  • 100m freestyle S9: 16th
  • 4x100m medley relay (34pts): 4th

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

  • 100m backstroke S8: gold
  • 4x100m medley relay (34pts): gold
  • 200m individual medley SM8: silver
  • 100m freestyle S8: bronze
  • 400m freestyle S8: bronze
  • 50m freestyle S8: 5th
  • 4x100m freestyle relay (34pts): 4th

London 2012 Paralympic Games

  • 100m backstroke S9: silver
  • 400m freestyle S9: silver
  • 200m individual medley SM9: silver
  • 100m butterfly S9: 5th
  • 4x100m freestyle relay (34pts): bronze
  • 4x100m medley relay (34pts): silver

Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

  • 100m backstroke S9: 4th
  • 100m butterfly S9: 5th (heat 2)
  • 100m freestyle S9: 5th
  • 50m freestyle S9: 7th

London 2019 World Para Swimming Championships

  • 4x100m freestyle relay (34pts): gold
  • 4x100m medley relay (34pts): gold
  • 100m backstroke S9: 4th
  • 100m freestyle S9: 8th

Montreal 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships

  • 100m freestyle S9: gold
  • 100m backstroke S9: gold
  • 200m individual medley SM9: silver
  • 4x100m freestyle relay (34pts): gold
  • 4x100m medley relay (34pts): gold

Eindhoven 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships

  • 100m freestyle S9: silver
  • 100m backstroke S9: silver
  • 100m butterfly S9: bronze
  • 400m freestyle S9: silver
  • 4x100m freestyle relay (34pts): silver
  • 4x100m medley relay (34pts): silver

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