Mie Nielsen
Mie Nielsen is a Danish backstroke specialist who has numerous National Records. Standing 6’0″ Nielsen was born Sept. 26, 1996. She comes from an impressive swimming heritage — she’s the daughter of Benny Nelson, who won a silver medal at the 1986 Olympics in 200 meter butterfly. In 2014 she signed a sponsorship deal with Arena.
First international medals
Nielsen won her first international medals at the 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships, when she won four medals and was named Newcomer of the Meet.
London Olympics
At her first Olympic Games in 2012 aged just 15, Nielsen competed in the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke. She was also apart of Denmark’s 400m freestyle and 400m medley relay.
Denmark’s Biggest Sports Performance nominee
In Dec. 2013 Nielsen was one of 10 athletes nominated for Denmark’s Biggest Sports Performance award after winning Denmark’s only gold medal at the European Short Course Championships. She set a European Record in the race, and set Danish Records in the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke.
2015 World Record
In 2015, at just 18 years old, Nielsen broke the World Record in the 100m backstroke at the Mediterranean Open. She improved upon her own record, which was set in April 2014.
2015 FINA World Championships
After knee surgery kept her out of the World Championships in 2013, Nielsen made her World Championship debut in Kazan. In the 100 meter backstroke she earned a bronze medal after leading at the half way point. She had 5th place finishes, in the 50 meter backstroke and 400 medley relay.
2016 Rio Olympics
Nielsen finished fifth in the finals of the Women’s 100M backstroke with a time of 58.80, just .35 seconds off the Gold Medal and .04 seconds out of the medals. She teamed with Rikke Moller Pedersen, Jeanette Olsen, and Pernille Blume to win Bronze in the 4X100M Medley relay, breaking the European Record with a time of 3:55.01.
2018 European Championships
Mie swam the 50 and 100 back in Glasgow, placing 6th in the 100 and 13th in the 50. She also swam on Denmark’s silver medal winning 4×100 medley relay and in the prelims of the 4×100 free relay, which would go on to win bronze in the finals.
