Shrone Austin

Shrone Austin (born January 31, 1989) is a Seychellois swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and breaststroke events.^[1] She first competed in the women's 100 m breaststroke at the 2004 Summer Olympics, before turning her sights on the long-distance freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Apart from her Olympic career, Austin had collected a career total of six medals (three silvers and three bronzes) in two editions of the All-Africa Games (2003 and 2011).^[2]

Shrone Austin

Personal information
Full name	Shrone Austin
National team	Seychelles
Born	(1989-01-31) 31 January 1989 (age 36) Victoria, Seychelles
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, breaststroke
Medal record Women's swimming Representing the Seychelles All-Africa Games 2003 Abuja 800 m freestyle 2003 Abuja 1500 m freestyle 2003 Abuja 400 m medley 2003 Abuja 400 m freestyle 2011 Maputo 800 m freestyle 2011 Maputo 1500 m freestyle

Austin made her own swimming history, as Seychelles' youngest ever athlete (aged 15), at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she competed in the 100 m breaststroke. Swimming in heat one, she raced to third and forty-third overall in her lifetime best of 1:19.02, almost a full-second margin behind Armenia's Varduhi Avetisyan (0.15) and three-time Olympian and leader Katerine Moreno (0.67).^[3][4]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Austin decided to drop her breaststroke specialty, and instead challenge herself with a long-distance freestyle. Swimming against Hungary's Boglárka Kapás, and Thailand's Natthanan Junkrajang (who later forced to pull out from the prelims) in heat one of the 400 m freestyle, Austin came up with a steady swim throughout the race, but could not catch her Hungarian rival near the wall to finish only in second and forty-first at 4:35.86.^[5]

Austin also competed in three events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne, Australia, she competed in the freestyle events for the 200 metres,^[6] the 400 metres^[7] and the 800 metres^[8] but didn't reach the final in any of the three events.

Achievements

Austin won the Seychelles Sportswoman of the year in 2003 when she was just 14 years old.^[9]