Janelle Atkinson

Janelle Anya Monique Atkinson-Wignall (born 30 September 1982), née Janelle Anya Monique Atkinson, is a Jamaican former competitive swimmer who won three silver medals at the 1999 Pan American Games.

Janelle Atkinson
Personal information
Full nameJanelle Anya Monique Atkinson-Wignall
National team Jamaica
Born (1982-09-30) 30 September 1982
Saint Andrew, Surrey, Jamaica
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight146 lb (66 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubGator Swim Club (USA)
College teamUniversity of Florida (U.S.)

Early years

Atkinson was born in Saint Andrew, Surrey, Jamaica in 1982.

International career

At the 1999 Pan American Games in WinnipegManitoba, Atkinson was a three-time silver medalist, finishing third in each of the 200-, 400- and 800-metre freestyle events. Atkinson represented Jamaica at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, where she finished fourth in the 400-metre freestyle and ninth in the 800-metre freestyle.[1] Atkinson won a pair of bronze medals in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle at the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. She also competed in the 200-metre freestyle and 400-metre freestyle for the Jamaican team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.[1] She was named Jamaica's Swimmer of the Year seven consecutive times from 1997 to 2003. Contrary to popular belief, Janelle is not related to Alia Atkinson who coincidentally is also a Jamaican swimmer.

College career

She attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for coach Gregg Troy's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 2001 to 2004.[2] As a Gator swimmer, Atkinson won three Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (twice in the 500-yard freestyle and once in the 1,650-yard freestyle), and received ten All-American honors.[2] She graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in tourism and hospitality management in 2005.[3]

Coaching

In 2014, Atkinson became the head coach of Swimming and Diving at Fairfield University. Before going to Fairfield, she was an assistant swimming coach for the UConn Huskies women's swimming and diving team at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut.[3] For the four years prior to accepting the UConn job, she served as an assistant swimming coach at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.[3] She also served as the head coach of the Jamaican women's national team at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships.[3]

In 2017, Atkinson was named the head coach of the Stony Brook University swimming and diving team.[4] Atkinson was fired from the program less than a year later after allegations of abusive behavior towards her swimmers.[5]. There has been no word from Stony Brook re allegations.Also the terminology used in the article by SwimSwam does not reflect the actual circumstances of the case.Atkinson is seeking legal redress re that coaching stint. She is now coaching at the age group level in the Greater New York area.

gollark: No, some of it just seems to indicate insanity.
gollark: Hey, don't discount the other bad stuff he does.
gollark: Longest one too.
gollark: Unrelatedly, my webserver seems to have randomly stopped webserving.
gollark: I would prefer not to be the effectively irrelevant plaything of vastly powerful AIs, *personally*.

See also

References
  1. Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Janelle Atkinson Archived 2009-01-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  2. Florida Swimming & Diving 2011–12 Media Supplement Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 62, 63, 75–76, 79 (2011). Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  3. UConnHuskies.com, Women's Swimming & Diving, Coaches, Janelle Atkinson-Wignall. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. "Seawolves name Janelle Atkinson as head women's swimming & diving coach". Stony Brook University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  5. "Stony Brook University Coaches Dismissed After Athletes Allege Abuse". SwimSwam. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
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