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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]
Matthew John Cowdrey is an Australian politician and Paralympic swimmer. He presently holds numerous world records. He has a congenital amputation of his left arm; it stops just below the elbow. Cowdrey competed at the 2004 Paralympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2008 Paralympic Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the 2012 Paralympic Games. After the 2012 London Games, he is the most successful Australian Paralympian, having won thirteen Paralympic gold medals and twenty three Paralympic medals in total. On 10 February 2015, Cowdrey announced his retirement from swimming.
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.
Brenden Hall, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who won two gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal. He was selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, his fifth games, where he won a bronze medal.
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.
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.
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.
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. He has a been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France.
Emma Jennifer McKeon, is a retired Australian competitive swimmer. She is an eight-time world record holder, three current and five former, in relays. Her total career haul of 14 Olympic medals following the 2024 Olympic Games made her the most decorated Australian, the third-most decorated swimmer, and the seventh-most decorated athlete in Olympic history and included one gold medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, four gold medals from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and one gold medal from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. 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 also won 20 medals, including five 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,2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has been selected for 2024 Summer 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. Patterson has a been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France
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.
Alice Tai, is a British paralympic swimmer. Tai competes in the SB8, SM8 and S8. She has represented Great Britain at European and World Championships and at the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games, gold medals at all levels.
Timothy Hodge is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2016 and the 2020 Summer Paralympics, where he won two silver and one bronze medals. He has a been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France.
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.
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.
Madeleine "Maddie" McTernan is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics where she won a silver medal.
William Michael Martin, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He won three gold and one silver medals at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, breaking two world records and a Paralympic record in the process.
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.
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 and also in the 2024 Summer Olympics, having won a gold medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay. Harris also won an individual silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 50 m freestyle. She is also the co-founder of the clothing brand Dally&Co Label.
