Kiran Khan Swimmer

Kiran Khan (born December 21, 1990 in Pakistan) is an Olympic swimmer, and one of the first international female swimmers for Pakistan, where she holds national records. She first came to national attention at the 28th Pakistan National Games in 2001, where she won 7 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 3 bronze medals, although she was the youngest swimmer at the games. After this performance she was named "Golden Girl". The smoothness of her four swimming strokes is well known. Khan is a powerful backstroker and individual medley swimmer. She won gold medals at the third and fourth World Islamic Games and at the first South Asian Swimming Championship in 2007.

About family:

Khan was born to Khalid Zaman, businessman and former international swimmer, and his wife Dr. Shagufta Khalid. She was brought up in Lahore in a religious family. Khan began swimming at the age of three and turned professional in 2001. She was trained by her father. She is currently attending Kean University .

Career

After her success at the Pakistan National Games, Khan represented Pakistan in the 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England in 2002. She won the 50 meter backstroke and was nicknamed "Water Baby" by the Queen and the British media. In 2003, Khan took part in the 14th Asian Games held in Korea, where she was the only Pakistani swimmer to reach to the finals, qualifying in the 100 meter freestyle. Later that year, she broke a national record in the 200 meter individual medley at the 10th World Final Swimming Championship in Spain, then broke a neonatal^{[clarification needed]} record at the First Afro Asian Games held in India.

In 2004, Khan won eight medals (six silver, two bronze) at the 9th South Asian Games in Islamabad. At the 29th National Games, also in Islamabad, she won 12 gold medals and set three new national records. The following year, Khan set multiple national records at the 11th World Fina Swimming Championship in Montreal and the 4th World Islamic Games in Iran. She had success at the 5th and 6th National Senior Swimming Championships in Karachi and Lahore, winning eight and twelve gold medals respectively.

During 2006, she broke national records at the 18th Commonwealth Games in Australia, the 10th SAF^{[clarification needed]} Games in Sri Lanka and the 15th Asian Games in Qatar. At the 30th National Games held in Karachi, Khan earned 13 gold medals and was declared Best Player of the Games. At the 8th National Senior Swimming Championship held in Karachi in 2007, Khan won 13 golds and set three new records.

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Khan ranked 45th out of 198, but she won 15 gold medals out of 19 events at the 9th National Senior Swimming Championship held in Islamabad. At the same championship the following year, she won 12 gold medals.