52 / 76
52
Hanna-Maria Seppälä
* 13 December 1984 Kerava
Present residence: Helsinki
174 cm, 60 kg
Club: Cetus, Espoo
Coach: Mirjami Seppälä
Event: 4x100 m medley relay
Hanna-Maria Seppälä will make Olympic history in Rio de Janeiro: she will become the first Finnish swimmer to
participate in five Olympic Games. She did have an early start: in Sydney 2000 she was only 15 and then youngest
Finnish Olympic athlete at any summer sport. Hanna-Maria has participated at almost every Olympic, World or
European championship competition for the past 17 years. Highlights of her career have been gold medal in 100
metres freestyle at the World Championships of 2003 in Barcelona and fourth place in the same event in Beijing
2008. In May 2016 she took her 17th World or European medal at senior level by swimming the freestyle leg in Fin-
land’s bronze-winning medley relay team at the European Championships in London. Hanna-Maria holds a degree
in physiotherapy. She has been coached all through her career by her mother Mirjami Seppälä.
PREVIOUS OLYMPIC GAMES:
2000 18th 100m free, 28th 50m free.
2004 12th 100m free, 24th 50m free, 36th 100m backstroke.
2008 4th 100m free, 16th 50m free, 30th 100m backstroke.
2012 18th 100m free, 26th 50m free, 32nd 200m free.
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS:
1999 EurShCh 13th 50m free, 20th 200m medley.
2000 EurCh 14th 50m free, 12th 100m free, 9th 4x100m free. WShCh 8th 100m medley.
2001 WCh 17th 100m free, 29th 50m free. EurShCh 5th 50m free, 10th 100m free, 7th 100m medley, 5th 4x50m
free, 8th 4x50m medley.
2002 EurCh 11th 100m free, 13th 100m backstroke, 14th 50m free, 22nd 50m butterfly, 9th 4x100m free. EurShCh
6th 50m free, 8th 100m medley, 10th 100m free, 15th 50m backstroke.
2003 WCh gold 100m free, 10th 50m free, 16th 50m backstroke, 21st 100m backstroke. EurShCh bronze 100m
free, 5th 50m free, 20th 50m backstroke 22nd 100m backstroke, 24th 50m butterfly.
2004 EurCh 7th 100m free, 12th 50m free, 17th 100m backstroke, 11th 4x100m free, 13th 4x100m medley.
WShCh 4th 100m medley, 5th 100m free, 16th 50m free, 19th 100m backstroke. EurShCh 6th 100m medley,
8th 100m free, 10th 50m free, 20th 50m breaststroke, 7th 4x50m medley, 12th 4x50m free.
2005 WCh 9th 100m free, 14th 50m free, 31st 100m backstroke, 33rd 50m backstroke. EurShCh gold 100m
medley, silver 100m free, 5th 50m free, 10th 4x50m free.
2006 EurCh 5th 100m free, 15th 50m free, 26th 50m butterfly, 31st 100m butterfly. WShCh silver 100m medley,
4th 100m free, 6th 50m free, 20th 50m breaststroke. EurShCh gold 100m medley, bronze 50m free,
4th 100m free, 7th 4x50m medley, 9th 4x50m free.
2007 WCh 12th 100m free, 13th 50m free. EurShCh gold 100m medley, 7th 100m free, 11th 50m free,
6th 4x50m medley, 7th 4x50m free.
2008 EurCh silver 100m free, 8th 50m free, 7th 50m backstroke, 15th 50m butterfly, 6th 4x100m free,
11th 4x100m medley. WShCh silver 100m medley, bronze 100m free, 8th 50m free. EurShCh gold 100m
medley, 4th 50m free, 4th 100m free, 6th 4x50m free, 7th 4x50m medley.
2009 WCh 10th 100m free, 16th 50m free, 34th 50m backstroke, 28th 200m medley, 15th 4x100m free.
EurShCh bronze 100m medley, 4th 100m free, 5th 4x50m free, 13th 4x50m medley.
2010 WShCh 17th 100m free, 22nd 50m free, 31st 100m backstroke, 10th 100m medley. EurShCh 4th 100m free,
9th 100m medley, bronze 4x50 m free, 7th 4x50 m medley.
2011 WCh 20th 100m free, 23rd 50m free, 35th 100m backstroke, 16th 4x100m medley. EurShCh 6th 100m
medley, 7th 100m free, 7th 4x50m free, 13th 4x50m medley.
2012 EurCh 7th 100m free, 14th 50m free, 23rd 50m backstroke, 7th 4x100m medley. EurShCh 5th 50m free,
5th 100m free, 20th 50m backstroke, 6th 100m medley, silver 4x50m free, 4th 4x50 m medley, bronze 4x50m
mixed free.