Ashleigh Kate McConnell, (born 26 March 1996) is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia 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 ...

and 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 ...

, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events.

Personal

McConnell was born on 26 March 1996 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 Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. She was born without her left forearm and left hand. She attended Sunbury College. In 2015, she was studying Business at

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

Career

McConnell started swimming at the age of four. She is classified as a S9 swimmer. She narrowly missed out on making the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

and

2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014. Qualifying c ...

. At the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was the eighth IPC Swimming World Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points. At the

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

, McConnell won the gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points and competed in three additional freestyle events. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the Gold Coast, McConnell won the bronze medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9. At the

, McConnell, together with her team of Emily Beecroft,

Ellie Cole Ellie Victoria Cole, (born 12 December 1991) 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 progresse ...

, and Isabella Vincent won a silver medal in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts with a time of 4:26.82, two seconds behind the winners, Italy. She also qualified for the final of the Women's 100 m freestyle S9 where she finished sixth. At the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands region, in England. It is the largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest cit ...

, she finished 4th in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9. McConnell's motto is "You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get".

Recognition

In 2016, with Para swimmer Monique Murphy, McConnell was named

RMIT The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

's Female Athlete of the Year. McConnell 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 ...

in 2017.

References

External links

Ashleigh McConnell
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 2022-07-05
2017-04-04
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Ashleigh 1996 births Living people Australian female freestyle swimmers Amputee-category Paralympic competitors Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Paralympic gold 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 bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships S9-classified para swimmers Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportswomen