Rikke Møller Pedersen (born 9 January 1989) is a Danish competitive swimmer specialising in breaststroke and from 2013 to 2021 world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke (2:19.11).[1][2][3]
In 2012, Møller Pedersen competed at the Summer Olympics for the first time.[4]
At the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres she placed first in the 100 m breaststroke and she set the European record with a time of 1:04.12.[5]
In this edition of the European Short Course Championships, she also won the 200 m breaststroke[6] and the 4×50 m medley relay events,[7] while she placed second in the 50 m breaststroke.[8]
At the 2012 World Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, she won the 200 m breaststroke event with a winning time of
2:16.08, the new championship record.[9] In Istanbul, she also placed third in the 100 m breaststroke[10] and first in the 4 × 100 m medley relay.[11]
At the 2013 Danish Open Championships, she broke the European record in the 200 m breaststroke (long course) swimming in 2:20.53.
The previous record belonged to Russian Yuliya Yefimova who had set a time of 2:20.92 at the 2012 London Olympics.[12]
In April 2017 Rikke Møller Pedersen competed in the Danish Open national qualifiers for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest. She took part in the 100 m breaststroke event and finished first with a time of 1:07.33, which qualified her for the World Championships.[15]
Rikke Møller Pedersen competed in the 2017 Stockholm Swim Cup. In the 50 m breaststroke event she finished third with a time of 31.45.[16] She won the 200 m breaststroke event by posting a time of 2:25.59.[17]
After a distinguished career spanning over several Olympic Games, she announced her retirement in January 2019 via posts on her Facebook and Instagram profiles.
