Leila Vaziri
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Leila Vaziri | |||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "Lei" | |||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||
Born | New York, New York | June 6, 1985|||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | |||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Backstroke | |||||||||||||||||
Club | Coral Springs Swim Club | |||||||||||||||||
College team | Indiana University | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leila Vaziri (Persian: لیلا وزیری, born June 6, 1985) is an American competition swimmer, the 2007 world champion, and a former world record-holder in the 50-meter backstroke.
Swimming career
[edit]Collegiate career
[edit]Vaziri attended Indiana University, where she majored in communication and culture, and competed for the Indiana Hoosiers swimming and diving team. She was 2005 Big Ten Champion in the 100-yard backstroke and the 2007 NCAA bronze medalist in the 100-yard backstroke. Vaziri earned 15 All-America certificates during her Hoosier career, the most in school history, and was the 2007 Indiana University Female Athlete of the Year.[1]
Leila won the 100-meter backstroke at the US National Championships in 2006, earning a spot at the Pan Pacific Championships in Victoria, British Columbia. After turning in the second-fastest time in the nation, she earning a spot on the U.S. World Championship Team.
Professional career
[edit]At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships held in Melbourne, Vaziri won a gold medal in the 50-meter backstroke and earned a silver medal by swimming the backstroke leg in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay. Going into the final of the 50 m backstroke, Vaziri was the clear favorite for gold. In the heats of the 50 m backstroke, Vaziri broke Natalie Coughlin's Championship record of 28.30 with a time of 28.25 establishing a new American Record.[2] In the semifinals of the 50 m backstroke, she broke Janine Pietsch's world record of 28.19 with a time of 28.16.[3][4] In the final of the 50 m backstroke, she equalled her own world record en route to winning gold.[5][6]
Vaziri came short of making the 2008 USA Olympic Swimming Team when she finished in 7th place in the final of the 100 m backstroke at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.[7]
Personal
[edit]She has an Iranian father and a mother of German ancestry.[8]
See also
[edit]- List of Iranian Americans
- List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
- World record progression 50 metres backstroke
References
[edit]- ^ Vaziri Wins World Championship, Matches Own World Record Archived 2007-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, IU Hoosiers website; published 2007-03-29; retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ "Women's 50 m backstroke results (heats)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "Women's 50 m backstroke results (semifinals)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-04-10. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "Vaziri breaks backstroke world record" Archived 2015-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Pippa Davis, Eurosport, 28 March 2007
- ^ "Women's 50 m backstroke results (final)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ American Vaziri equals record to win 50 backstroke gold[permanent dead link ], Guardian Unlimited, March 29, 2007
- ^ "Women's 100 m backstroke results (final)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "Iranian - American Vaziri Wins World Championship". IranSportsPress. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Leila Vaziri at World Aquatics
- Indiana University bio of Leila Vaziri at the Wayback Machine (archived March 17, 2007)
- 1985 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from New York (state)
- American female backstroke swimmers
- American people of Iranian descent
- American people of German descent
- Iranian female swimmers
- Indiana Hoosiers women's swimmers
- Sportspeople of Iranian descent
- World record setters in swimming
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming