Michelle Alonso

Michelle Alonso Morales (born 29 March 1994, in Tenerife) is a swimmer competitor from Spain. She has been dubbed by the media as "The Little Mermaid of the Canary Islands". She is also considered one of the most important personalities of Spanish sport.

Personal

Alonso was born 29 March 1994 and has an intellectual disability. She is from the Canary Islands. As of 2012, she lived in Tenerife. In October 2013, she was awarded the gold Real Orden al Mérito Deportivo at a ceremony at the Teatro de Madrid Cofidis, and attended by Princess Elena, Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, José Ignacio Wert, the president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), Miguel Cardinal, and the Director General of Sports of CSD, Ana Muñoz.

Swimming

Alonso is an S14 classified swimmer. She is affiliated with the Spanish Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (FEddi).

In 2010, Alonso competed at the Tenerife International Open.

In 2012 Alonso competed at the Paralympic Swimming Championship of Spain by Autonomous Communities.

She raced at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, England where she earned a gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke setting a new world record of 1:16.85. She competed at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships, where she won a gold medal in her favoured 100m breaststroke. The next year she again represented Spain, this time in the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships. She entered four events, winning gold in the 100m breaststroke S14 breaking her own world record, set at the Paralympics, by over a second.