 |
Rowan Crothers (born 24 October 1997) OAM is an Australian freestyle swimmer. [1] He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and 2024 Paris Paralympics. [2] [3] He won two gold and one silver medals at the Tokyo Paralympics and two silver and one bronze medals at Paris Paralympics. [4]
Crothers was born 15 weeks prematurely on 24 October 1997 in Gosford on the New South Wales Central Coast [5] and currently lives in Moorooka, Queensland.
Rowan attended Newmarket State School, Kelvin Grove State College and St Laurence's College.
Crothers' prematurity resulted in him developing cerebral palsy due to IVH, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia causing permanent lung scarring. His Cerebral Palsy (spastic diplegia) impacts his coordination and motor control predominantly in his lower body, however his upper body is also affected to a lesser extent.[ citation needed ] Crothers requires a vehicle modified with hand controls to legally drive and is currently working towards obtaining a full licence. In the pool, CP impacts the effectiveness of his kick and ability to control body positioning. He has worked consistently on perfecting a propulsion style to make the most out of what coordination he has.[ citation needed ]
Crothers features in the 2020 documentary No Distinguishing Features which .." follows the stories of six people living with disabilities from across Australia and New Zealand. Six people who were given a strict roadmap for their life the moment they were born. Six people who went on to tear that roadmap to shreds." [6]
Crothers has been a member of the Yeronga Park Swim Club since 2012 where he initially trained under Rick Van Der Zant. He is currently trained by Kate Sparkes. Notable members of his training squad include or have included Ryan Pini, Lorna Tonks and Chelsea Gubecka. [7]
Crothers made his international swimming debut as a 13-year-old at the 2011 Arafura Games where he claimed a bronze medal in the Men's 400 m MC freestyle and broke 4 Australian National Age Records in the 50m, 100 m, 200 m and 400 m freestyle events in the S9 classification. He went on to claim S9 Australian National Age Records in freestyle as a 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old in the 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, and the 400 m freestyle.[ citation needed ]
At the 2013 Australian Short Course Championships, Crothers broke the men's S9 World Record for the 400 m SC freestyle.[ citation needed ]
In 2014 at the Australian Swimming Championships, Crothers broke World Records in the S9 100 m freestyle twice, and another in the S9 200 m freestyle. These swims qualified him for the 2014 Australian Commonwealth Games Swim Team and the 2014 Para Pan Pacs Team. Crothers went on to win Gold [8] at the 2014 Commonwealth Games breaking his own World Record [9]
In 2016 Crothers was reclassified from S9 to S10 which was a major adjustment. [10] He went on to compete at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in four events and qualified for the finals in each. He placed fifth in the Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle (34 points), sixth in Men's 400 m Freestyle S10, fifth in Men's 100 m Freestyle S10 and sixth in Men's 50 m Freestyle S10. [11]
At the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, he won the bronze medals in the Men's 50 m and 100 m Freestyle S10. [12]
In 2021, Crothers swam at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games winning gold in the 50 m Freestyle S10 with a time of 23.21, [13] and silver in the 100 m Freestyle S10 with a time of 51,37. [14] Crothers won gold in the Men's 4×100 m freestyle 34 pts along with William Martin, Matt Levy and Ben Popham, breaking the current World Record by almost 2 seconds. [15]
Crothers won two gold medals - Men's 50 m Freestyle and Men's 100m Freestyle at both the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships, Madeira and 2023 World Para Swimming Championships, Manchester, England. [16]
2011 Arafura Games inc. Oceanic Paralympic Championships
Bronze - Men's 400 LC Meter Freestyle Multi-Class [17]
2013 IPC Swimming World Championships - Montreal
Gold – Men's 34pt 4 × 100 m freestyle relay [18]
Bronze - S9 Male 100m freestyle [19]
Gold – S9 Male 100m freestyle (WR) [20]
2018 Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships [21]
Gold – Men's Open 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class
Gold – Men's Open 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class
Gold - Men 4x100 LC Metre Freestyle 34 point, S1 - S10 Relay
Silver – Men's Open 50 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class
2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games [22]
Gold - Men's 50m Freestyle - S10
Silver - Men's 50m Freestyle - S10
Gold - Men 4x100 LC Metre Freestyle 34 point, S1 - S10 Relay (WR)
2012 Australian Open Swimming Championships
Silver - Men 12 & Over 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class [23]
2013 Australian Open Water Championships
Silver - Men 5K Open Water Multi-Class [24]
2013 Australian Open Swimming Championships
Silver - Male 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class [25]
Bronze - Male 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class [26]
2013 Australian Open Short Course Swimming Championships
Gold – Men's Open 400 SC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class (WR) [27] [28] [29]
2014 Australian Open Swimming Championships
Gold – Men's 100m freestyle Para Sport S9 (WR) [30] [31]
Gold – Men's Open 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class (WR) [32] [33] [34] [35]
Silver – Men's Open 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class [36]
Gold – Men's Open 200 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class (WR) [37] [38] [39]
2016 Australian Open Swimming Championships [40]
Silver – Men's Open 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class
Silver - 4 × 50 m MC freestyle relay
2017 Australian Open Swimming Championships
Bronze - Men's Open 50 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class [41]
2019 Australian Open Swimming Championships [42]
Gold - Men's Open 50 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class
Gold - Men's Open 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class
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.
Dame Sophie Frances Pascoe is a New Zealand para-swimmer. She has represented New Zealand at four Summer Paralympic Games from 2008, winning a total of eleven gold medals, seven silver medals and one bronze medal, making her New Zealand's most successful Paralympian. She has also represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games.
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. He competed at the, 2008 Beijing Paralympics, 2012 London Paralympics, 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics. At the end of the Paris Paralympics, he had won three gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
Michael Anderson, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who has won gold, silver and bronze medals at the three Paralympics from 2008 to 2016.
S9, SB8, SM9 are para-swimming classifications used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability. Swimmers in this class generally have severe weakness in one leg. This class includes a number of different disabilities including people with amputations and cerebral palsy. The classification is governed by the International Paralympic Committee, and competes at the Paralympic 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.
The 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from the 4th to the 10th of August. Around 375 athletes from 35 different countries attended. The venue, the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium, also held the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships.
Emily Beecroft is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and 2024 Paris 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. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she won the silver medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9.
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.
Tully Alicia Jacqueline Kearney is a British Paralympic swimmer. Kearney currently competes in the S5/SB4/SM5 classification for swimmers with physical disabilities. She won gold and silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and followed this up at the Paris 2024 Games with two further gold medals, including retaining her 100 m freestyle S5 title. Since first competing at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2013 she has won thirteen World Championship medals, ten of which are gold. Kearney is a multiple British, European and World record holder.
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 has represented Australia at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Paralympics, where he won two gold, three silver and one bronze medals.
Dimosthenis 'Dimos' Michalentzakis is a Greek Paralympic swimmer who competes in S9 and S8 classification events. He won Paralympic gold in the 100m butterfly S9 at 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and Paralympic bronze in the 100m freestyle S8 at 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. He was born in Alexandroupoli in 19/10/1998 and he has origin from Feres. He holds the world record in 200 meters freestyle in his category with a performance of 2:07:16. The Municipal Swimming Pool of Alexandroupoli has his name.
Ben Popham is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, winning a silver and two bronze medals, and the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, where he won two gold medals and a silver.
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.
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.
Alexander Tuckfield is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He began swimming at the age on ten. He has cerebral palsy. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, he won a bronze medal
Thomas "Tom" Gallagher is an Australian Paralympic swimmer and surf life saver. He represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a bronze medal and the 2024 Paris Paralympics, winning one gold and two bronze medal
