Britta Steffen

Steffen with the 100m freestyle gold medal at 2009 world championships
Personal information
National team	Germany
Born	(1983-11-16) 16 November 1983 (age 40) Schwedt, Bezirk Frankfurt, East Germany
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Website	britta-steffen.com
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	SG Neukölln
Medal record Women's swimming Representing Germany Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 1 World Championships (LC) 2 2 3 World Championships (SC) 1 1 0 European Championships (LC) 7 2 0 European Championships (SC) 5 5 4 Universiade 2 0 0 Total 19 10 8 Olympic Games 2008 Beijing 50 m freestyle 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle 2000 Sydney 4 × 200 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 2009 Rome 50 m freestyle 2009 Rome 100 m freestyle 2007 Melbourne 4 × 200 m freestyle 2009 Rome 4 × 100 m freestyle 2007 Melbourne 100 m freestyle 2009 Rome 4 × 100 m medley 2011 Shanghai 4 × 100 m freestyle World Championships (SC) 2012 Istanbul 100 m freestyle 2000 Athens 4 × 100 m freestyle European Championships (LC) 2006 Budapest 50 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 100 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4 × 100 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4 × 200 m freestyle 2012 Debrecen 50 m freestyle 2012 Debrecen 4 × 100 m freestyle 2012 Debrecen 4 × 100 m medley 2006 Budapest 4 × 100 m medley 2012 Debrecen 100 m freestyle European Championships (SC) 2007 Debrecen 100 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 4 × 50 m medley 2011 Szczecin 50 m freestyle 2011 Szczecin 100 m freestyle 2011 Szczecin 4 × 50 m freestyle 1999 Lisbon 4 × 50 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 50 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 4 × 50 m freestyle 2010 Eindhoven 4 × 50 m freestyle 2010 Eindhoven 4 × 50 m medley 2000 Valencia 4 × 50 m freestyle 2003 Dublin 4 × 50 m freestyle 2010 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle 2010 Eindhoven 100 m freestyle Summer Universiade 2007 Bangkok 50 m freestyle 2007 Bangkok 100 m freestyle

Britta Steffen (German pronunciation: [ˈbʁi.ta ˈʃtɛfn̩] ^ⓘ; born 16 November 1983) is a German competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle sprint events.

Biography

In 1999, Steffen won six titles at the European Junior Championships, and won a medal as a member of Germany's relay team in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics.^[1] In 2004, she asked to swim the 4×100 m relay. But after the Olympics, she took one year off swimming and concentrated on her studies, which were not finished.

At the 2006 European Championships in Budapest, Steffen clocked 53.30 in the women's 100 m freestyle event, breaking the world record and upstaging the previous record of 53.42 set by Libby Lenton of Australia. Even though Lenton swam a time of 52.99 on 4 April 2007 during the mixed 400 metre freestyle relay, this time was not recognized by the FINA as world record, because the race is not considered to be a FINA event.

At the same championships, Steffen was part of two world record-breaking relay teams. First, the German 4×100 m women's relay team of Dallmann, Goetz, Steffen and Liebs took the Australian 4×100 m freestyle relay (Mills, Lenton, Thomas and Henry) world record of 3:35.94, clocking a time of 3:35.22. The German women's relay team of Dallman, Samulski, Steffen and Liebs, then swam a time of 7:50.82 to take the previous US 4×200 m freestyle relay (Coughlin, Piper, Vollmer and Sandeno) world record that stood at 7:53.42.

At the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne where she finished third in the 100 metre freestyle event and second in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay.

During the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Steffen won the 100-meter freestyle, catching world record-holder Libby Trickett of Australia at the last stroke. Steffen touched in 53.12 seconds, bettering her own Olympic record of 53.38 set on the leadoff leg of the 4×100 m freestyle relay. Steffen then edged out Dara Torres to win the 50-meter freestyle gold with a time of 24.06 seconds, winning by 0.01 seconds.

At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Steffen clocked 52.07 in the 100 m freestyle event, breaking the world record and upstaging the previous record of 52.22 set by herself four days before.^[2] Two days later on 2 August 2009, Steffen won her second title in the 50 m freestyle event, breaking the world record with a time of 23.73 seconds.^[3]

Her 100-metre freestyle long course world record was broken by Cate Campbell on 2 July 2016. Her 50-metre freestyle long course world record was broken by Sarah Sjöström on 29 July 2017.