 2012 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Overton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Esther Overton | |||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Australia | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 March 1990 Launceston, Tasmania, Australia | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, butterfly, backstroke | |||||||||||||||||
| Classifications | S1, SB1, SM1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Burnside | |||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Shelly Camy | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Esther Overton (born 26 March 1990) is an Australian swimmer. She competed at the 2008 and the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Overton was born on 26 March 1990 in Launceston, Tasmania. [1] [2] She currently resides in Enfield, South Australia. [3] Back in 2012, she was a student at the University of Adelaide where she was working on a Bachelor of Commerce. [1]
Overton has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, [1] [2] a medical condition which "causes muscle weakness and a tendency for bones to break easily". [4] It also results in joints that are immobile. [2] Her arm has been broken more than forty times; she has coped with multiple bulging discs and had six surgeries on her knee since 2008. [2] [5] Because of her disability, she has required the use of an electric wheelchair and was in constant pain. [2] Thence, Overton's legs were amputated, one each in November 2022 and February 2023. [6]
Overton is a S1 classified swimmer. [1] [5] [7] When swimming, she cannot use her arms and uses her head instead of hands on the touchpad. [2] She competes in the 50 metres backstroke, freestyle. [2] [5] Overton is a member of the Burnside Swimming Club. [5] She is coached by Shelly Camy, who became her coach eighteen months before the start of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. [4] Part of her training includes Pilates. [2]
Overton started swimming as physiotherapy when she was a baby, [3] and started competing at twelve years old. [2] She made her national team debut at the 2006 IPC World Championships in Durban, [1] [3] winning a silver medal in the 50 metres butterfly and backstroke events. [8] She competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in two events. [1] [2] [5] [8] Competing in the 50 metres backstroke event, she finished fifth. [5] In the 50 metres freestyle, she finished sixth. [5] Seven weeks before the 2008 Games, she had a collapsed lung and a day before the start of the Games, she broke an arm. [1]
Overton competed at the 2010 Australian National Championships. Prior to the event, she had applied for an exemption so she could wear a swimsuit that had a zipper. When this was declined, she tried to put on a legal swimsuit and broke her arm in the process but she continued competing with the injury. [3] She competed at the 2010 Paralympic World Championships. [3] At the 2011 Para Pacific Championships, she finished third in the 50 metres backstroke event. [1] In October 2011, she got a new swimming coach. [5] Going into the 2012 National Championships, she was dealing with three bulging spinal discs [5] as a result of swimming into a wall three weeks before the event. [9]
As a twenty-two-year-old, [4] Overton was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 50 metre backstroke S2 and the 50 metre freestyle S3 events. [4] [5] [7] [9] [10] She was one of three South Australians representing Australia in swimming at the Paralympics. [2]
In April 2013 at the age of 23, Overton retired from professional swimming. She was forced to consider her future after a lack of competitor interest in her classification led to the cancellation her event at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships. [11]
She is an inductee of the Swimming South Australia Hall of Fame. [12]
Overton unretired in December 2023, when she already underwent rehabilitation after her double amputations. [6]
