Jack Swift (born 8 August 1985) is an Australian

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 ...

competitor and paratriathlete. He was selected to represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in athletics in the 400m and 4 × 100 m events.

Personal

Swift was born on 8 August 1985, and is from the Melbourne suburb of

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in Victoria. He attended Marcellin College, and played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

while at school. In 2006, Swift lost the lower part of his right leg when he was twenty-one years old after an accident while at work, "when a 14-tonne excavator fell and crushed his right leg". Prior to his accident, he was a plumber's labourer. He was a finalist for the 2011 Victorian '' Cleo'' Bachelor of the Year. In February 2011, he was on the cover of Australian ''

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''. He pursued a degree in exercise-science from

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

. , he works as a personal trainer.

Athletics

Swift competes in the T44 athletics classification. He became involved with athletics as a form of personal mental health improvement following his accident, and had not competed in athletics prior to his accident. In 2011, Swift was training as much as twenty-five hours a week. In the 2011 Victorian Athletic League, he participated in the Athletes With a Disability 120m event, the only event open to athletes with disability during the season. In 2011, he was an Australian national ambulant 100m and 200m finalist. At the 2011 Australian Athletics Championships, he finished third in the 200m wheelchair race final. He assisted in unveiling the 2012 Australian Paralympic athletics uniform. He did this at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia Spring/Summer 2012/13 on day two at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal on 1 May 2012. He was selected to represent

at the

in athletics in the 400m and 4 × 100 m events. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.

Paratriathlon

In April 2013, Swift raced his first sprint distance triathlon. Based on his performance in this race, he was selected in Australia's 2013

ITU Triathlon World Championships The World Triathlon Championship Series is an annual series of triathlon events organised by World Triathlon. The series is used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. Previously, the ITU (the former name of World Triathlon) world champio ...

paratriathlon team. Like several other selected Australian athletes, he did not race. Swift competed in the 2014 Australian and Oceania Paratriathlon Championships, placing 2nd in the TRI-5 (moderate leg impairment) classification. He also placed second TRI-5 in the ITU World Paratriathlon event in Elwood. At the 2014 ITU World Triathlon Series Final in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

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, he finished eleventh in the Men's PT4. In January 2015, Swift won the Oceania Paratriathlon Championships PT4 event at

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

. At the 2015 World Triathlon Series Final in

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, Swift finished twelfth in the Men's PT4. Swift now aims to qualify for

paratriathlon at the 2016 Summer Paralympics The paratriathlon competitions at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 10 to 12 September 2016 at Fort Copacabana. Sixty athletes competed across two genders, and six events. This was the first Paralympic Games to fe ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Jack Paralympic athletes for Australia Living people 1985 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Deakin University alumni Paratriathletes Australian male triathletes Australian male sprinters Athletes from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen