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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Ashleigh McConnell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 March 1996 Melbourne, Victoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classifications | S9, SB8, SM9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Melbourne Vicentre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Kenrick Monk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ashleigh Kate McConnell, OAM (born 26 March 1996) 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. [1] [2]
McConnell was born on 26 March 1996 in Melbourne, Victoria. [3] She was born without her left forearm and left hand. [4] She attended Sunbury College. [5] In 2015, she was studying Business at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. [4]
McConnell started swimming at the age of four. [4] She is classified as a S9 swimmer. [4] She narrowly missed out on making the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. [5] At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points.
At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, McConnell won the gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points and competed in three additional freestyle events. [5]
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, McConnell won the bronze medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9. [6]
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, McConnell, together with her team of Emily Beecroft, Ellie Cole, and Isabella Vincent won a silver medal in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts with a time of 4:26.82, two seconds behind the winners, Italy. [7] She also qualified for the final of the Women's 100 m freestyle S9 where she finished sixth. [8]
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, England, she finished 4th in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9. [9] [10]
McConnell's motto is "You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get". [3] [4]
In 2016, with Para swimmer Monique Murphy, McConnell was named RMIT's Female Athlete of the Year. [11]
McConnell was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2017. [12]
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.
Brenden Hall, is an Australian Paralympic amputee swimmer who won two gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics where he won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal. He competed at 2020 Summer Paralympics, his fourth games.
Matthew John Levy, is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. At five Paralympic Games from 2004 to 2020, he has won three gold, one silver and six bronze medals.
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.
Bronte Campbell is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimmer, a dual Olympic gold-medal winner and world champion. Her older sister, Cate, is also a competitive swimmer, and once held world records in both the short and long course 100 metre individual freestyle events. Bronte and Cate are the first Australian siblings on the same Olympic swimming team since the 1972 Olympics and the first Australian sisters ever to compete within the same swimming event at the Olympics. Bronte Campbell won three gold medals at the 2015 World Championships, including the 50 and 100 metre freestyle events.
Maddison Gae Elliott, is an Australian swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she became the youngest Australian Paralympic medallist by winning bronze medals in the women's 400 m and 100 m freestyle S8 events. She then became the youngest Australian gold medallist when she was a member of the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34 points team. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won three gold and two silver medals.
Emma Jennifer McKeon, is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a seven-time world record holder, three current and four former, in relays. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the 2020 Olympic Games made her Australia's most decorated Olympian and included one gold medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and four gold medals from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. With four gold and three bronze medals she was the most decorated athlete across all sports at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and tied for the most medals won by a woman in a single Olympic Games. She has also won 17 medals, including four gold medals, at the World Aquatics Championships; and a record 20 medals, including 14 gold, at the Commonwealth Games.
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.
Tiffany Thomas Kane, is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, winning a gold and three bronze medals, and at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a further two bronze medals.
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.
Timothy Malcolm (Disko) 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.
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.
Rachael Elizabeth Watson, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. Watson represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics winning gold in the 50m Freestyle S4, a feat she repeated at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Ruby Storm is an Australian Paralympic swimmer with an intellectual disability. She represented Australia at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, winning a bronze medal, and at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she won a silver and bronze medal.
Madeleine "Maddie" McTernan is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics where she won a silver medal.
Isabella Vincent is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. At the age of fifteen, she was the youngest Australian swimmer selected for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, where she won a silver and bronze medal.
Mollie Grace O'Callaghan, is an Australian swimmer. She competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics. O'Callaghan swam on the first night of racing in the heats of the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle. She ended up winning 2 gold medals and a bronze medal, all from heat swims. O'Callaghan has been a member of five world record Australian relay teams, most recently at the 2022 Short Course World Championships. She attends St. Peter’s Western swim club. O'Callaghan is a six-time World Champion, five-time Commonwealth Champion and double Olympic Champion, as well as a five-time World Record holder, ten-time Australian Record holder and former World Junior Record holder.
Meg Harris, is an Australian swimmer. She is a world record holder in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay. She competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay. She also won an individual gold medal at the 2017 Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games in the 50 freestyle. She is also the co-founder of the clothing brand Dally&Co Label.
Benjamin "Ben" Hance is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, he won a gold and bronze medal.
