Therese Alshammar

Therese Alshammar, whose full name is Malin Therese Alshammar, is a Swedish swimmer born on 26 August 1977 in Solna, a specialist in short-distance freestyle and butterfly races. She is the daughter of the Olympic breaststroke swimmer Britt-Marie Smedh and was the first female swimmer, and the third overall, to compete at six Olympic Games. She has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals and 43 European Championship medals. She began as a backstroke swimmer, won her first national senior title at 14, swam for the University of Nebraska in the late 1990s and won her first international medal, a bronze in the 50 m freestyle, at the 1997 European Championships.