Timothy Malcolm Disken, (born 3 November 1996) is an Australian paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships and won

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

in the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

, 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 The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

Personal

Disken was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, on 3 November 1996 and has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

. He has an older brother Jeff who played

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

at a national level in Australia. When not competing Disken enjoys producing

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

. Disken also likes to play piano and learned the piano for 12 years.

Sporting career

Disken began participating in swimming aged 4, as a form of therapy for his

and started to compete in the sport at age 10. He was selected to attend a development camp, along with other swimmers who were seen as having potential ahead of the 2016 Paralympics. In 2014, Disken then went on to win gold in the 50 LC

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

event at the 2014 Australian Swimming Championships in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He made his senior international debut at the 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships in Pasadena CA Where he won bronze in the Men's S9 400m freestyle and gold in the Men 100 LC Meter

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

. In 2015, Disken represented Australia at the IPC Swimming World Championships winning bronze in the Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34 Points. He finished 5th in the Men's 100m Breaststroke SB8, 4th in the Men's 50m Freestyle S9, sixth in the Men's 400m Freestyle S9, seventh in the Men's 200m Individual Medley SM9 and fourth in the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay 34 Points. At the

, he won the gold medal in the Men's 100m Freestyle S9, silver medal in the Men's 50 m Freestyle and the bronze medal in the Men's 200m Individual Medley SM9. Disken's also competed in the Men's Freestyle and finished fifth. In October 2017 Disken required emergency brain surgery while competing for Australia in Toronto, Canada. He has shunted hydrocephalus and the shunt broke, leaving him unconscious within hours. He fought back after his recovery and represented Australia at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where he won the gold medal in S9 100m freestyle and Gold in SB8 100m breaststroke.(13) At the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships was the tenth edition of the World Para Swimming Championships run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The championships were held from February to June in seven countries across five contine ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he won bronze medal in Men's Freestyle (34 points), finished fourth in the Men's Medley (34 points) and fifth in the Men's 100 Freestyle (S9). At the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, Disken qualified for both the Men's 50 m freestyle S9 and Men's 100 m breaststroke SB8 finals. He finished seventh in both events. In the Men's 4x100m Medley 34 pts, he swam together with Ben Popham, Timothy Hodge, and William Martin. His team won the silver medal in a time of 4:07.70, just over a second behind the winners,

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, who set a new world record. He was selected to compete at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Disken is coached by Yuriy Vdovychenko at the National Training Centre in Canberra.

Recognition

* In 2013 and 2014 Disken was awarded the junior sports star of the year by the Waverley Leader. * In 2015, Disken was awarded the Presidents Trophy at the Swimming Victoria Annual Awards night for his achievements at World Championships. * In 2016 he was awarded Multi Class Swimmer of the Year at the Swimming Victoria Annual Awards night. * In 2016, Glenallen School named its swimming pool Tim Disken Pool as a result of his performances at the Rio Paralympics. * In 2017 he was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

References

External links

Timothy Disken
at

Swimming Australia Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...

(archived) * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Disken, Timothy 1996 births Living people Australian male medley swimmers Australian male breaststroke swimmers Australian male freestyle swimmers S9-classified para swimmers Cerebral palsy-category Paralympic competitors Swimmers with cerebral palsy Male Paralympic swimmers for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen