[1] She holds the record of 42 National titles[2] Read competed at her first Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984 at the age of 15 and reached the B final of the 200 m backstroke, finishing 11th overall.

Two years later at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, she won a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke.

It was at the 1993 European Championships event in Sheffield that she finally won a European Championship medal, winning bronze in the medley relay along with teammates Jaime King, Nicola Kennedy and Karen Pickering.

[3] She represented England and won a silver medal in the 200 metres backstroke, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.

[5][6] At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria (as Kathy Osher), she won two medals, bronze in the 100 m backstroke, followed by a silver in the medley relay.