Blake Cochrane, (born 25 January 1991) is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, two gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics, a silver medal 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 a silver and one bronze medal 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 ...

. It has been announced that Cochrane will be one of Australia's television hosts for coverage of the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024.

Personal

Blake John Cochrane born on 25 January 1991 in

Charleville, Queensland Charleville () is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Charleville had a population of 2,992. Geography Located in southwestern Queensland, Aust ...

. He has multiple congenital limb deficiencies affecting his hands and his feet. In December 2017, he graduated from

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC; formerly abbreviated as USC until 2022) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it ...

with Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Science. Cochrane and his wife Lauran have a son and daughter. Cochrane announced his retirement from swimming in July 2022.

Swimming

Cochrane's parents enrolled him in swimming in an effort to alleviate his asthma. He began swimming competitively at age 16. It was not until his selection by Swimming Australia as an AWD (Athlete with a Disability) team competitor at the Arafura Games in Darwin, 2007, that his potential was realised. Cochrane went on to win a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games in the Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 event. After Beijing 2008, Cochrane continued to perform strongly in the pool. He was one of the stars of the 2009 World Short Course Championships, winning two gold medals and one silver. He has been honoured with Blue awards by both University of Queensland, 2010 and the University of the Sunshine Coast, 2011. He blitzed the field at the 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships in Canada, winning five gold medals and breaking the world record in the 100m breaststroke. 2010 was an especially prolific year for Blake as he won gold in the 100m breaststroke at the World Championships, before snaring a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. During the 2012 Australian Swimming Nationals he again set a new world record in the 100m breaststroke (SB8) final. Competing at the 2012 London Games, he competed in five events and won two gold medals in the Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 and Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle 34 points. At the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, Cochrane broke the world record in winning the gold medal in the Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7. Competing 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 Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Cochrane won the silver medal in the Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 and a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points. He finished fourth in Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay 34pts, fifth in the Men's 50m Freestyle S8 and Men's 100m Freestyle S8. In 2015, Cochrane was coached by

Jan Cameron Jan Cameron is a New Zealand-Australian businesswoman and formerly Australia's fourth-richest woman. She made her fortune as the founder of the Kathmandu clothing and outdoor equipment company. She currently lives in Bicheno, Tasmania. She r ...

at the

. At the

, Cochrane won the silver medal in Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7. He also competed in Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle (34 points) and finished fifth, seventh in Men's 400m Freestyle S8 but didn't progress to the finals in Men's 50m Freestyle S8 and Men's 100m Freestyle S8. 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 ...

, Cochrane won the bronze medal in the Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7. Cochrane competed at the

in the Men's 100 m breaststroke SB7. He won the bronze medal with a time of 1:16.97, close to 5 seconds behind the winner Carlos Serrano Zarate of Columbia. He participated in the heats of the 34pts 4x100m Medley but not in the final. At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 100 breaststroke SB8. Cochrane is coached by Nathan Doyle at USC Spartans.

Recognition

In 2011, Cochrane was a nominee for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''s Sport Performer Award in the Performer with a Disability category. In 2011, he won Swimming Australia's Swimmer with a Disability of the Year Award. He has been awarded the 'Graham Sherman Sunshine Coast Senior Sports Star of the Year' for 2013. He was awarded a

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 the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."

References

External links

Blake Cochrane
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:Cochrane, Blake 1991 births Living people Australian male freestyle swimmers Australian male breaststroke swimmers S8-classified para swimmers Male Paralympic swimmers for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 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 Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian sportsmen Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Charleville, Queensland Sportsmen from Queensland Television presenters with disabilities

Personal

Swimming

Recognition

See also

References

Further reading

External links