CASSANDRA PATTEN
'Cassie' is one of only 3 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 in the nearest river or paddling in the sea. She is extremely dyslexic and found school a struggle, so her swimming lessons became her solace. After progressing through her swimming lessons she joined her local swimming club and her passion for competitive swimming was ignited.
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Cassie’s international swimming career started in 2003 when she was the tender age of 16. She came 15th in the 200m Butterfly at the European Championships in Dublin. This was followed a year later by a 4th in the 800m freestyle at the World Short Course Championships in Indianapolis, where she was the youngest on the team and was mentored by sprint legend Mark Foster.
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Her desire to perform well on the world stage was unrelenting, so she poured her heart and soul into training. This dedication to hard work payed off at the British Championships in 2006, she won a bronze in the 400m IM and silver in the 800m Freestyle.
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After moving to Stockport Metro to be trained by Sean Kelly, she swam along side Keri-Anne Payne, James Goddard and David Carry. It was here where Cassie made the jump into open water in 2006, soon making her mark on the 10km distance by winning the European Cup in her first year.
In 2007, Along side her team mate Keri-Anne Payne, Cassie won silver in the 10km open water swimming event at the World Championships in Melbourne, (despite being stung all over by jellyfish). A year later she took silver once more, at the 2008 Open Water World Championships behind Larisa Ilchenko.
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Cassie Patten 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.
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Since retiring from swimming, she has taken up coaching - which has seen her travel all over Europe delivering coaching sessions, with various companies including SwimQuest, Speedo, Zoggs and British Swimming. Along side her coaching career, she has a growing career as a sports commentator. Cassie was the lead swimming pundit at the London Olympic Games for Sky Sports News in 2012 along side commentating on the men and women's 10km open water marathon in Hyde Park.
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In 2022 Cassandra set up WaveCrest to help the next generation of swimmers reach their potential.
"Swimming was my whole life for over 20 years. I poured every ounce of enthusiasm into it. I am so fortunate to have found these new outlets for that enthusiasm."