Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | London, Ontario | September 1, 1982||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Wheelchair basketball Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | 4.0 (basketball) S9 (swimming) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Women's team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | London | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Darda Sales (born September 1, 1982) is a Canadian swimmer, 4.0 point wheelchair basketball player and motivational speaker. She won gold medals with the 4x100 medley relay team at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney and the 2002 IPC Swimming World Championships in Mar del Plata, and a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. She switched to wheelchair basketball after she retired from swimming in 2009, and won a gold medal in that sport at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto.
Darda Geiger was born in London, Ontario, on September 1, 1982. [1] She was the youngest of four children, with two older brothers and an older sister. She grew up on a farm in rural Ontario. In 1985, when she was two, she lost her right leg above the knee in a farm accident. [2] [3] She has a Bachelor of Arts with Honors degree in kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario and a postgraduate certificate in therapeutic recreation. She is an athlete therapeutic recreational therapist. [2] [4]
When Geiger was nine, she met three athletes who were training for the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, and decided to become a Paralympian too. [5] This dream came true at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. As a member of the 4x100 medley relay team, she won a gold medal in the world record time. [2] This was followed by a gold medal in the same event at the IPC Swimming World Championships in 2002, [4] and a silver at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. [2] She also won bronze medals in the 100 m freestyle and 400 m freestyle events at the 2006 IPC World Championships. [4]
Geiger married Brad Sales, a fellow Paralympic swimmer and member of the Canadian national swim team, [2] and now goes by the name of Darda Sales. They have three children. [1] She competed in the 50 m, 100 m and 400m freestyle and the 100 m backstroke events at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, her third Paralympic Games, but did not win a medal. [2]
Sales retired from swimming in 2009, but became interested in wheelchair basketball. She competed for Team Ontario at the women's national championships, and made the national team in 2014. [1] She was part of the team that won a gold medal at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto in July 2014. [6] and silver at the 2015 Parapan American Games in August 2015. [7]
Jessica Tatiana Long is a Russian-born American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at six Paralympic Games, winning 30 medals. She has won over 50 world championship medals.
Stephanie Dixon, is a Canadian swimmer. She is a three-time Paralympian and competed at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Paralympic Games prior to retiring from competitive swimming in 2010. During her career, Dixon won nineteen Paralympic medals and seven Parapan American Games medals, and was a 10-time world champion. She is one of Canada's most successful Paralympians.
Mirjam de Koning is a Dutch paraplegic swimmer.
Robert Welbourn is a British Paralympian swimmer. He was born in Chesterfield. He began his swimming career at Deeping Swimming Club in Deeping St. James.
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.
Dame Sarah Joanne Storey, is a British cyclist and swimmer, a multiple gold medallist in the Paralympic Games, and six times British (able-bodied) national track champion.
Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Games in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. The London Games were the biggest Games with 164 nations participating, 19 more than in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games and hosted the 2000 Sydney Games. As such, the 2000 Sydney Games, regarded as one of the more successful Games, became a point-of-reference and an inspiration in the development of the 2012 London Games.
Justin Cain Eveson, OAM is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player who has won Paralympic medals in both sports.
Michael Auprince, is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. He set several swimming records and was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in swimming, where he won gold and bronze medals. He represented the Rollers team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Michael is currently on the coaching staff of the University of Alabama Wheelchair Basketball team.
Katherine Rose Downie is an Australian Paralympian. Kat first represented Australia in 2011. Kat represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming and was a member of both the Gold medal Women's 34 point 4 x 100 free and 4 × 100 medley relay teams. Kat placed fourth in both her pet events the 100 backstroke and 200IM.
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.
Summer Ashley Mortimer is a Canadian-Dutch former paraswimmer who competed internationally for Canada, and later the Netherlands national paralympic team, an artist, a performing artist, and CBC Sports personality.
Alexander "Alec" Robert Elliot is a Canadian competitive Paralympic swimmer.
Alice Rose 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.
Denis Tarasov is a Paralympic swimmer from Russia competing mainly in category S8 events. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London he won five medals, including gold in the 50 metre freestyle S8 event. He has represented Russia at two IPC World Championships with a total of 12 medals. At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow he set four world records, two as part of Russian relay teams and two individual records, in the 50m and 100m freestyle S8 events.
Arjola Trimi is an Italian Paralympic swimmer competing in S4 classification events. She competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and 2020 Summer Paralympics, in Women's 4 × 50 mixed freestyle relay, winning a silver medal.
Chelsey Gotell is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer and 12-time medalist. She has oculocutaneous albinism which causes her to have poor vision.
Kayla Noelle Sanchez is a Filipino-Canadian swimmer who represents the Philippines internationally since 2023. She has represented Canada through 2022, at the Olympic and World championship level, and is a two-time Olympic medalist.
Martha Sandoval Gustafson is a Mexican-Canadian Paralympic medallist in table tennis, swimming, and athletics. As a Mexican Paralympian, Gustafson won a total of twelve medals, which includes three golds at the 1976 Summer Paralympics and two golds and the 1980 Summer Paralympics. After she moved to Canada in 1981, Gustafson won six golds and one silver at the 1984 Summer Paralympics for Canada. In 2020, Gustafson became part of the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.
Marie Claire Ross is a Canadian B3 classified para-swimmer who has a visual impairment and competed in the Paralympic Games and the IPC World Swimming Championships. She began swimming at the age of 14 and joined a swimming club in her home town of London, Ontario. Ross won four medals: one silver and three bronze medals in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. She earned six more medals with three bronze medals, two gold medals and one silver medal in the 1996 Summer Paralympics at Atlanta. Ross has also won a silver medal and a bronze medal at the 1994 IPC World Swimming Championships in Valletta.