Stephanie Dixon

Last updated
Stephanie Dixon
Personal information
Born (1984-02-10) February 10, 1984 (age 40)
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Sport
Sport Swimming
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Event1st2nd3rd
Paralympic Games 782
Parapan American Games 610
Paralympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 100 m Freestyle S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 400 m Freestyle S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 100 m Backstroke S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 4x100 m Freestyle Relay
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 4×100 m Medley relay 34 pts
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Athens 100 m Backstroke S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Beijing 100 m Backstroke S9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2000 Sydney 50 m Freestyle S9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2000 Sydney 200 m Individual Medley SM9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 100 m Butterfly S9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 200 m Individual Medley SM9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay 34pts
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 4 × 100 metre medley relay 34pts
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle S9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 400 m Freestyle S9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Beijing 400 m Freestyle S9
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Beijing 200 m Individual Medley SM9
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Athens 50 m Freestyle S9
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Beijing 100 m Freestyle S9
Parapan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 50m freestyle S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 400m freestyle S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 100m backstroke S9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 200m individual medley SM9
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34pts
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 4 × 100 m medley relay 34pts
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro 100m freestyle S9
IPC World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2010 Eindhoven 100 m backstroke S9

Stephanie Dixon, CM (born February 10, 1984) [1] 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. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Dixon was born in Brampton, Ontario [3] to parents Mark Dixon and Joanne MacDonald, and has an older brother, Matthew. [4] She was born missing her right leg and hip and with an omphalocele [5] [6] and began to swim at the age of two. [1] She uses underarm crutches. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

She moved to Victorian in 2003 to study psychology from the University of Victoria, [12] [13] where she earned a B.A. and swam for the University of Victoria Vikes. [14] In 2021, Dixon began pursuing a master's degree in kinesiology at the University of Toronto. [15] She finished her master’s degree from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education in November 2023. [16]

Career

Para Swimming

At the age of 13, Dixon began competitive swimming against athletes without disabilities. At the age of 14, she joined Canada's national Paralympic team, competing in the S9 classification. [17] At age 13, she set a Canadian record in the women’s 100-metre backstroke with a time of 1:21.69. She won five medals at the 1997 Canada Games and five medals at the 1997 United States National Championships for Swimmers with a Disability. At the 1998 National Youth Championship in Sherbrooke, she set her first world record, racing the women’s 200-metre backstroke in 2:39.39. She won five gold medals at the 1998 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Swimming Championships and set two world records (women’s 100-metre backstroke and women’s 4x100-metre medley relay). [4]

She represented Canada at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, at the age of 16, and won five gold medals and two silver medals. [18] [19] With 5 golds, she set the Canadian record for most golds at a single Games. [20] Representing her country again at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, she won one gold, six silver, and one bronze. [1] At the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, she won six gold and one silver medals. [21] She participated in the Paralympic Games for the third time in Beijing in 2008. [1]

Dixon has also won several medals and set several world records at World Championships and at the Commonwealth Games. [22]

In 2010, Dixon retired from competitive swimming. [23]

Post-competition

In 2011, Dixon moved to the Yukon and became head coach of the Yukon Graylings Master Swim Club. [17]

Dixon was a TV host for the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships and part of the Canadian Paralympic Committee's broadcast team for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games. [24] She was part of CBC's broadcasting team for the 2016 and 2018 Paralympic Games. [25] After serving as Team Canada’s assistant chef de mission for the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games, [24] she was Canada's chef de mission for the 2019 Parapan American Games and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. [3]

Awards and recognition

She was added to the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame in 2013 [26] [27] and the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. [28] In 2016, she was awarded the Order of Sport, marking her induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. [29] She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2018. [25] [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Stephanie Dixon". Canadian Paralympic Committee. Ottawa ON. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Celebrating 25 years of Para sport: Canadian swimmers win showdown at Sydney 2000". Canadian Paralympic Committee. April 7, 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Canadian legend Stephanie Dixon named chef de mission for 2020 Paralympics". CBC. April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Freeborn, Jeremy (July 27, 2022). "Stephanie Dixon". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Amputee Swimmer: Stephanie Dixon - Athlete Profile". amputee.ca. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Stephanie Dixon RHP - swimming world ..." Youtube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  7. ↑ "stephaniedixon Flickr Hive Mind" . Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Amputee Stephanie Dixon[RHP] - My Victoria.flv". Youtube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Qué Banh – The Photography Elf: Photography is one of my life's passions, creativity fuels my soul: Paralympic Swimmer Stephanie Dixon". February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Stephanie Dixon RHP - shop ..." Youtube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Stephanie Dixon". Zimbio. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  12. ↑ "La paralympienne Stephanie Dixon s'envole vers le Brésil deux médailles d'or en poche", Canadian Paralympic Committee
  13. ↑ Juzenas, Frank (November 30, 2013). "From swimming to skiing, Brampton paralympian takes on yet another challenge". Brampton Guardian. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  14. ↑ Dheensaw, Cleve (November 25, 2018). "Swimming star Stephanie Dixon on shedding the label 'athlete with a disability'". Times Colonist. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  15. ↑ Damjanovic, Jelena (September 13, 2021). "Stephanie Dixon, a decorated Paralympian, embarks on new journey as U of T grad student". U of T News. Toronto ON: University of Toronto. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  16. ↑ Dadlani, Kunal (January 8, 2024). "Paralympian Stephanie Dixon adds U of T master's degree to her long list of achievements". The Varsity. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  17. 1 2 Damjanovic, Jelena (September 13, 2021). "Stephanie Dixon, a decorated Paralympian, embarks on new journey as U of T grad student". University of Toronto. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  18. ↑ "World catching up to Canada" Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine , The Colonist, September 6, 2008
  19. ↑ Croft, Dave (April 16, 2016). "Yukon swimmer named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame". CBC. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  20. ↑ Vancouver Sun, "Woolstencroft wins fifth gold medal", CanWest News Service, March 21, 2010 (accessed March 21, 2010)
  21. ↑ "Celebrating 25 years of Para sport: Canada stars in swimming at 2007 Parapan American Games". Canadian Paralympic Committee. July 7, 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Stephanie Dixon établit une nouvelle marque mondiale au Championnat du monde de natation handisport" [ permanent dead link ], Canadian Paralympic Committee
  23. ↑ Tiel, Marissa (March 17, 2017). "Whitehorse Daily Star: Paralympian finds path after retiring from sport". Whitehorse Daily Star. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  24. 1 2 "Stephanie Dixon named Canada's Assistant Chef De Mission". International Paralympic Committee. October 22, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  25. 1 2 Hopkinshill, John (January 5, 2018). "Stephanie Dixon honoured with appointment to Order of Canada". Yukon News. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  26. ↑ Patrick, Tom (August 2, 2013). "Yukon swim coach selected for national Hall of Fame". Yukon News. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  27. ↑ Vander Wier, Marcel. "Dixon named to HOF, eyes return to Paralympics". White Horse Daily Star. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  28. ↑ Juzenas, Frank (September 7, 2016). "Brampton native Dixon to appear on CBC Paralympics coverage". Brampton Guardian. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  29. ↑ "Stephanie Dixon". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 4, 2018.

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