| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 August 2001 (age 22) | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic swimming | |||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | S9 | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | St Hilda's, Gold Coast | |||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jon Bell | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alexa Leary (born 18 August 2001) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She won a gold medal and silver medal at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships.
Leary was born on 18 August 2001. She grew up on the Gold Coast and at the age 7 to 8, her family moved to Yamba, New South Wales. Her family moved to Noosa where her triathlon coach was based. [1] On 17 July 2021, Leary suffered life-changing brain injuries as a result of serious cycling accident at Pomona, Queensland Sunshine Coast. [2] Whilst riding her bike in training for triathlons, her front wheel clipped her bike ahead at 70 km/h and Leary landed on her head resulting major brain damage, blood clots and several broken bones. [3] She spent 111 days in hospital. [3] [2] She attended Good Shepherd Lutheran College. [3] Her parents are Russ and Belinda Leary. Alexa has two sisters, Madison and Ashtyn, and brother Max. [4]
Whilst in hospital, a fund raising campaign called 'moveforlex' raised over $130,000 for enhanced care at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Neurosurgery Ward with a focus on equipment and family support. [3]
Leary won the silver medal at in the Women's Under 18–19 at World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne, Switzerland before her training accident. [5]
Her triathlon training incorporated swimming. After her training accident, she was classified as an S9 swimmer. At the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships, Manchester, she won a gold medal in the Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 just outside the world record and a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9. [6]
Sandra "Sandy" Dukat is an American Paralympic athlete. Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, she had her right leg amputated above the knee at the age of four. She has competed internationally in alpine skiing, swimming and triathlon. As of February 2013, she holds the marathon world record for above-knee amputee women.
Janice Gabrielle Cameron, was an Australian competition swimmer and coach.
Marayke Caroline Jonkers is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer and paratriathlete. She won two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, along with a bronze medal at the 2010 Budapest ITU Triathlon World Championships.
Ellie Victoria Cole, is an Australian retired Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming as part of her rehabilitation program and progressed more rapidly than instructors had predicted. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and first competed internationally at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, where she won a silver medal. Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships. Following the 2012 London Paralympics, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, Cole underwent two shoulder reconstructions and made a successful return to swimming at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, winning five medals, including three golds. She subsequently represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. In claiming her seventeenth Paralympic medal in Tokyo, Cole became Australia's most decorated female Paralympian with six gold, five silver and six bronze medals from four Paralympic Games.
Miriam Sheppard is a New Zealand former para athlete and para swimmer. She was the 2009 ITU Paratriathlon World Champion in TRI3 classification. In addition, she represented New Zealand at the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games. in Athens, Greece, in swimming, as well as at the 2005 CPISRA World Games – in both swimming and track & field. Jenkins is affected by mild cerebral palsy in her left side.
Blake Cochrane, is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, two gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics, a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and a silver and one bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Brendan John Burkett, OAM is an Australian swimmer who won five medals at four Paralympics and a silver medal at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games.
Annabelle Williams, is a Paralympic swimming competitor from Australia. She has a congenital limb deficiency. She appeared in Mad Max 4. Representing Australia, she has won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympic Games in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in the Women's 100 m Butterfly S9. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she earned a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 and a bronze in the Women's 100 m Multi Disability Freestyle. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, she earned a silver in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 event.
Rowan Crothers is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He won two gold and one silver medals at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Emily Beecroft is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She won a silver and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Lakeisha Dawn Patterson, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She won medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won Australia's first gold medal of the Games in a world record time swim in the Women's 400m freestyle S8. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she won the gold medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9.
Ashleigh Kate McConnell, is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events.
Timothy Malcolm Disken, is an Australian paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships and won bronze in the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle S9, a silver medal in the men's S9 50m freestyle and a bronze medal in the men's 200m individual medley SM9. He also competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Tully Alicia Jacqueline Kearney is a British Paralympic swimmer. Kearney competes in the S5 classification for swimmers with physical disabilities. She won Gold and Silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games setting World records in both the 50 m and 100 m freestyle. She has also won medals in three IPC Swimming World Championships winning Bronze in the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships, setting a British record; four Golds, a Silver and a Bronze in the 2015 World Championships setting three European records and becoming GB's highest medal earner of the Championships, and three Golds at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2019, setting three British records and two Championship records. In addition, she won Gold and Bronze at the World Para Swimming European Championships in 2018. Kearney is a multiple British, European and World record holder.
Paige Leonhardt is an Australian swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won a silver medal.
Katja Dedekind is an Australian Paralympic vision-impaired swimmer and goalball player. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and two bronze medals at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
McKenzie Coan is an American swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she swam the 400m Freestyle in the S8 category. Coan was one of four S8 category swimmers chosen to compete for Team USA at the games. She later had her breakout games in the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where she would go on to win 3 gold medals in the category S7 50, 100, and 400M Freestyle races, with an additional silver medal in the 34-point women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle relay. In the process of getting her gold medal in the 50M Freestyle she also set a new Paralympic Record.
Lauren Parker is an Australian para-triathlete and para-cyclist. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She has won multiple World Triathlon Championships in Women's PTWC.
Hannah Elizabeth Aspden is an American Paralympic swimmer. She was the youngest swimmer on Team USA to medal at either the Olympics or Paralympics in 2016. During the 2019–20 season at Queens University of Charlotte, Aspden broke two American Paralympic Short Course Meters Swimming records in both the 100-Meter Backstroke and the 100-Meter Freestyle.
Toni Stephanie Shaw is a British Paralympic swimmer. In 2019 she set the world record time for the S9 200m butterfly, and was also part of the team that set a new world record for the 4 × 100 m medley relay. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, she won a bronze medal in the women's 400 metre freestyle S9 event and later went on to win gold at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships, becoming the World Champion. She is a three-time World Champion and two-time European Champion.
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