Jeanette Chippington

Jeanette Clare Chippington, MBE (née Esling, born 21 April 1970) is a British Paralympic swimmer and paracanoeist. Chippington has represented Great Britain at five consecutive Summer Paralympics, 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Competing as a S6 classification swimmer she favoured mainly 50 m and 100m freestyle competitions. After retiring from swimming Chippington returned to disability sport, becoming a world class paracanoeist, winning medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships between 2012 and 2017.

Jeanette Chippington
MBE

Personal information
Full name	Jeanette Chippington[1]
Nationality	British
Born	(1970-04-21) 21 April 1970 Taplow, England
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming, Paracanoe
Disability class	KL1 (paracanoe)
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Women's swimming Paralympic Games 1996 Atlanta 100 m freestyle S6 1996 Atlanta 4×50 m freestyle S1-6 1988 Seoul 100 m backstroke L4 1996 Atlanta 50 m freestyle S6 2000 Sydney 4×100 m medley 34pts 2004 Athens 4×50 m freestyle 20pts 1992 Barcelona 4×50 m medley S1-6 1996 Atlanta 200 m freestyle S6 1996 Atlanta 4×50 m medley S1-6 2000 Sydney 50 m freestyle S6 2000 Sydney 100 m freestyle S6 2000 Sydney 4×50 m medlay 20pts Women's paracanoeing Paralympic Games 2016 Rio KL1 World Championships 2012 Poznań K-1 A 2012 Poznań K-1 TA 2012 Poznań V-1 A / TA 2012 Poznań V-1 LTA 2013 Duisburg K-1 A 2013 Duisburg V-1 A 2013 Duisburg V-1 TA 2014 Moscow K-1 A 2014 Moscow V-1 A 2015 Milan KL1 2017 Račice KL1 2016 Duisburg KL1 2018 Montemor-o-Velho VL2 2018 Montemor-o-Velho KL1

Personal history

Chippington was born Jeanette Clare Esling in 1970 in Taplow, England.[2] In 1982 she contracted a virus which resulted in damage to her spinal cord which in turn left her paralysed in both legs.[3][4] She married in 1998, flying from her honeymoon to compete in the IPC Swimming World Championships in New Zealand.[3] She has two children and also works as a swimming instructor and coach.[2]

Swimming career

Chippington started swimming on the recommendation of her physiotherapist after her illness.[3] She entered her first major competition in 1985 and despite originally participating in all four major competitive strokes, she settled as a 50m and 100m freestyle specialist.[3] In 1988 she made the Great Britain team for the Summer Paralympics in Seoul entering the women's 100m backstroke and freestyle L4 events. There she finished in second place in the 100m freestyle to win her first Paralympic medal.[5] Chippington represented Great Britain four years later at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. There she entered six events, taking a medal in one, a bronze in the women's Women's 4x50 m Medley S1-6, alongside team mates Tara Flood, Margaret McEleny and Jane Stidever.[6][7]

The 1996 Summer Paralympics were Chippington's most successful with a five medal haul. She won two gold medals, setting world records in both. In the Women's 4 x 100-metre medley relay she was reunited with McEleny and Stidver while new member Jennifer Booth was added to the last leg. The team finished in a time of 2:52.36 setting a new world record and taking gold.[8] Her second gold medal was in the 100m freestyle S6. In the heats Jenny Newstead of New Zealand finished as fastest qualifier in a world record time of 1:23.85, while Chippington qualified third.[9] Despite the strong competition, Chippington won the final by swimming 1:23:63 beating Newstead's short lived record in the process.[9] She completed the Atlanta games with a silver in the 50 m freestyle S6 and two bronze medals in the 200 m freestyle S6 and 4x50 m medley relay S1-6.[7]

The 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney saw Chippington add another four Paralympic medals to her tally; a silver in the Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 pts and three further bronze medals.[7] Her final Paralympics as a swimmer was the 2004 Games in Athens. Despite believing she was not good enough to qualify for the Games, Chippington still left with another medal, a bronze in the 4x50m freestyle relay 20pts.[3]

Paracanoeing career

Chippington took up paracanoeing after being nagged by a friend to try out the sport.[2] In 2013, she won three gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg, but later decided to focus on the KL1 200m event when it was announced that only Kayaks in her disability classification would be included in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.[2] At the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships held in Milan, Chippington won gold in the KL1 200m, giving her a qualifying place for the 2016 Games in Rio.[4]

Chippington was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to canoeing.[10]

References

1. "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. 30 December 2016. p. 51. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
2. "Jeanette Chippington". britishcanoeing.org.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
3. "Athlete Profile: Jeanette Chippington". sportsable.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
4. McDaid, David (21 August 2015). "Jeanette Chippington wins GB's second gold at Para-canoe Worlds". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
5. "Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games – Swimming: Women's 100 m Backstroke L4". paralympic.org. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
6. "Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games – Swimming: Women's 4x50 m Medley S1-6". paralympic.org. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
7. "Athlete Search Results = Jeanette". paralympic.org. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
8. "Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games – Swimming: Women's 4x50 m Freestyle S1-6". paralympic.org. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
9. "Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games – Swimming: Women's 100 m Freestyle S6". paralympic.org. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
10. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N16.

External links

• Jeanette Chippington at the International Canoe Federation