Emily Jane Beecroft (born 19 November 1999) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. 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 ...

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 ...

and 2024 Paris Paralympics. She won a silver and bronze medal at the

, and a gold and bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal life

Beecroft was born on 19 November 1999, a triplet with two sisters. She lived in

Traralgon, Victoria Traralgon ( , ) is a city located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is th ...

. She was born deaf in her left ear and with a right arm limb deficiency. In 2020, she studied part-time media and communications at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

. She moved to the Queensland Sunshine Coast and in 2022 was studying a Bachelor of Communications at the

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 ...

Swimming career

Beecroft played

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

and participated in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, but eventually decided to concentrate on

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

. In 2010, she competed won ten medals at the School Sports Championships, and was awarded the Sportsmanship Award in 2012. Competing for the Traralgon Swimming Club, she swam a personal best time to take the bronze medal in the 50 metre

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 ...

multi-class event at the National Open Championships in May 2013. By March 2015, Beecroft was ranked in the top five in the world in the 50 metre

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

, 50 metre and 100 metre

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

and in the top 15 in all her other events. She made her international debut at the US Para Championships in

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck (; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat, seat of Burleigh County, North Dakota, Burleigh County. It is the state's List of cities i ...

, in December 2015, where she was officially classified S9, and swam second in the 50 metre butterfly, and 50 metre and 100 metre freestyle events. She won gold in the 50 metre freestyle and 100 metre butterfly events at the 2015 Australian Open Championships, and the 2016 Australian Age Championships. At the

2016 Australian Swimming Championships The 2016 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 7 to 14 April 2016 at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. They doubled up as the national trials for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Par ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, coached by Dean Gooch, Beecroft won gold in the 50 metre and 100 metre freestyle and 50 metre butterfly events. All three swims were personal bests, but the 31.93 second 50-metre butterfly swim also broke the national record set by Madeleine Scott back in 2009. On 14 April 2016, she was named part of the Australian swim team for 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 ...

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

. In September 2016, she represented Australia at the Rio Paralympics in four different S9 classification events. Beecroft qualified for three finals from her four events, however was unsuccessful in having any podium finishes. She finished fourth in 50m Freestyle S9, sixth in 100m Freestyle S9 and 6th in 100m Butterfly S9. Beecroft also competed in 200m Individual Medley SM9 but did not advance to the finals. In response to being asked 'What's the purpose of going to Rio?' Beecroft replied saying "I'm going there to race and win!" 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 ...

, Gold Coast, Beecroft finished fourth in the Women's 100m Freestyle S9. At the

, Beecroft, together with her team of

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 ...

, Isabella Vincent, and

Ashleigh McConnell Ashleigh Kate McConnell, (born 26 March 1996) is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events. Pers ...

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 won a bronze medal in the 34pts Women's 4x100m Medley 34 pts. Her team of

, Keira Stephens and Isabella Vincent clocked 4:55.70. In the Women's 100 m freestyle S9 Beecroft qualified for the final but finished eighth and did not win a medal At the

2022 World Para Swimming Championships The 2022 World Para Swimming Championships was the 11th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Madeira from 12 to 18 June. The competition was origin ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

Beecroft won three medals - gold in the Mixed 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 pts and silver in Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 and Women's 100 m Butterfly S9. 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 won the silver medal in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9. Beecroft won the bronze medal in the Women's 100 m butterfly S9 at the

2023 World Para Swimming Championships The 2023 World Para Swimming Championships was the 12th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for swimmers with disabilities. It was held in Manchester, Great Britain from 31 July to 6 August 202 ...

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she won the gold medal in Mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay 34pts and the bronze medal in the Women's 100 m butterfly S9. She finished fourth in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9.

Recognition

* 2016 - Victorian Young Athlete of the Year. * 2022 -

Sportsperson of the Year * 2023 -

Sportsperson of the Year * 2024 - Swimming Australia Swimmers Swimmer of The Year Award * 2025 - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Paris Paralympic Games 2024.

References

External links

*
archive
* * *
Emily Beecroft
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beecroft, Emily 1999 births Living people Australian female butterfly swimmers Australian female freestyle swimmers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games S9-classified para swimmers Sportspeople from Traralgon Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportswomen