David John Rolfe (26 June 1964 – 7 January 2015) was a leg amputee Paralympic swimming and

paracanoe Paracanoe is canoeing for athletes with a range of physical disabilities. The Paralympic version of the sport is governed by the International Canoe Federation (ICF), and a va'a-specific variant is governed by the International Va'a Federation (IVF) ...

competitor from Australia. He won a bronze medal at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley 34 pts swimming event. He also competed in

world championship events.

Personal

Rolfe was born on 26 June 1964 in

Inverell, New South Wales Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the No ...

. and was residing on the Gold Coast, Queensland. On 5 August 1993, he was involved in a head on car accident with a

semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...

after falling asleep at the wheel. The accident resulted in Rolfe becoming above-the-knee right leg amputee. Whilst recuperating in hospital, Sydney won the right to host the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

and this led to Rolfe's determination to compete at the Games. On 7 January 2015, Rolfe died as the result of complications following three heart surgeries over the past year. He was father to Eli and Laban. Outside of swimming and canoeing, Rolfe enjoyed cycling, rock climbing and sailing.

Swimming

Rolfe made his international debut at the 1998

IPC Swimming World Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

. At the

, he won a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley 34 pts event. He competed in three other events – Men's 100 m Backstroke S9, Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB8 and Men's 200 m Medley SM9 but did not medal. At the 2000 Sydney Games, Rolfe was one of the oldest athletes (36 at the time of the game) and as a result he played a large role in bringing the team together and mentoring the younger athletes. He discontinued swimming three years after the Sydney Games.

Canoeing

Rolfe first started whitewater paddling in 1991 and was for several years a white water rafting guide. Rolfe was coached by Andrea Wood and based out of the Gold Coast Canoe Club. He returned to canoeing in 2009 as a para-canoeist with the aim of competing the 2016 Rio Games where para-canoeing was making its debut. In the lead up to this event, Rolfe was one of the sport's greatest advocates and even appeared in an International Canoe Federation video to promote the sport. In 2010, Rolfe stated that "I had been water rafting and white water kayaking before my accident but because kayaking wasn't anywhere near Paralympic status then, I took up swimming which was the only other water sport in the programme". Rolfe was Australia's first paracanoe representative at world championships level when he competed in the Men's LTA K1 at the

2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held 19–22 August 2010 in Poznań, Poland, on Lake Malta. This was the third time that the Polish city hosted the championships, having done so previously in 1990 and 2001. Paracanoe (forme ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Poland. He also competed at the

2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was the thirty-ninth edition of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, that took place between 17 and 21 August 2011 in Szeged, Hungary. The Southern Hungarian city welcomed the world event for the ...

External links

Paracanoeing with David Rolfe Youtube

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolfe, David Male Paralympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia 2015 deaths 1964 births Australian amputees Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Amputee category Paralympic competitors Australian male canoeists KL3-classified paracanoeists Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian male medley swimmers S9-classified para swimmers Australian male backstroke swimmers Australian male breaststroke swimmers People from New England (New South Wales) Sportsmen from New South Wales