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| Full name | Melissa Paula Carlton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 8 May 1978 (age 45) Pietermaritzburg, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Melissa Paula Carlton, OAM [1] (born 8 May 1978) is a South African-born Australian swimmer. Born with no right leg and short fingers on her left hand, she won gold, silver and bronze medals for Australia at both the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
Carlton was born in the South African city of Pietermaritzburg on 8 May 1978. [2] [3] She moved with her family to Australia in 1986; they first settled in the Victorian town of Beechworth, where Carlton competed in local school swimming competitions. [4] In 1990 they moved to the Hobart suburb of Glenorchy. [4] Carlton then joined the City of Glenorchy Swimming Club (now known as the Hobart Aquatic Club), where she met Chris Wedd, who would be her coach throughout her Paralympic career. [2] [5]
In 1991, Carlton won a gold medal in the 8 km event at the Tasmanian outdoor championships for able-bodied swimmers. [6] She won a gold medal at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games in Canada in the 100 m freestyle S9. [7] In 1994, she had an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship in swimming. [8]
At the 1996 Atlanta Games, she won two gold medals in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9 and Women's 4x100 m Freestyle S7–10 events, for which she received a Medal of the Order of Australia, [1] two silver medals in the Women's 100 m Butterfly S9 and Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 events, and a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S9 event. [9] At the 2000 Sydney Games, she won two silver medals in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9 and Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 events and two bronze medals in the Women's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts and Women's 4x100 m Medley 34 pts events. [9]
Carlton has been involved with sports administration, holding several positions in Tasmania including Programs and Marketing Coordinator for the Hobart Aquatic Centre and Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Paralympic Committee. [10] [11] She has been the Manager of Launceston Aquatic since 2008. [10]
In 1996, Carlton was named the Tasmanian Institute of Sport female athlete of the year, Tasmanian Sportswoman of the Year, and Hobart City Council Young Citizen of the Year. [6] In 2000, she received an Australian Sports Medal. [12] In 2001, she received the Tasmanian Athlete with a Disability of the Year award. [11] She was added to the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame in 2005. [6] In 2009, she was noted as one of 50 Tasmanians of influence by The Examiner . [10]
Benjamin James Austin, OAM is an Australian Elite Athlete with a Disability (EAD) swimmer. His classification is S8.
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. 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.
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.
Brenden Hall, is an Australian Paralympic 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.
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.
Cameron de Burgh is an Australian Paralympic swimmer, who has won four medals at two Paralympics.
Gregory John Hammond , OAM is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who also competed at an international level in sailing and volleyball.
Sam Julian Bramham, OAM is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He competed at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Paralympics. Between those two Games, he won two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal. In 2014 Bramham entered the eleventh season of Big Brother Australia and was a contestant in the first season of Australian Ninja Warrior in 2017.
Michael Anderson, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who has won gold, silver and bronze medals at the three Paralympics from 2008 to 2016.
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.
Helena Martha Brunner, OAM, is an Australian swimmer, who won seven medals at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Games.
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.
Stephanie Millward, is a British Paralympic swimmer.
Rowan Crothers OAM 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.
Beate Lobenstein is a German para swimmer. She competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics, winning a gold, four silver and five bronze medals.
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