Cassie Patten
Cassie is one of only three British swimming athletes to have ever won an Olympic medal for the 10km open water swimming marathon. Originally from Cornwall, she is one of open water's true legends.
Growing up in Cornwall, Cassie always loved water, she would always be found paddling in the sea. She is extremely dyslexic and found school a struggle, so her swimming lessons became her solace.
Cassie’s international swimming career started in 2003 when she was the tender age of 16.
She represented Great Britain at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the 800m freestyle where she came improved her rankings by 25 places, and made the final where she finished 8th, behind Olympic royalty Rebecca Adlington.
The week later under tough conditions she took to the water in the 10km open water swimming event, where she won her Bronze medal.
By doing this Cassie made history as the first swimmer in the world to both make a final in the pool and medal in the open water event.
Since retiring from swimming, she has taken up coaching - founding Wavecrest swimming in 2022. Along side her coaching career, she has a growing career as a sports commentator and athlete mentor.
Over the last 2 years Cassie has turned her attention to changing the culture within swimming around weighing swimmers. She was instrumental in changing policy’s around weighing young swimmers and was invited to meet Prince William to discuss this earlier this year.