Jarrett Perry is an American former para-swimmer. He won a gold medal at the

2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

in the Men's 100 metre backstroke S9 and a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in the same category.

Early life

Perry was born to parents Vicky and Craig in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

alongside his twin brother Mac.Perry also has an older sister Tegan Perry Bonham. The pair was diagnosed with

twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), also known as feto-fetal transfusion syndrome (FFTS), twin oligohydramnios-polyhydramnios sequence (TOPS) and stuck twin syndrome, is a complication of monochorionic multiple pregnancies (the most commo ...

at birth which forced doctors to amputate Perry's leg. He began swimming at a young age and by six years old was specializing in the 25-yard butterfly. In 1997, while attending Coleman Middle School, he won six medals after competing at the Disabled Sports USA National Summer Games.

Career

As a seventh-grader at Coleman Middle School, Perry became the youngest swimmer selected for the US swimming team in international competition. In his first year with the team, he earned five gold medals, three silver, and one bronze. In 2000, Perry held American records in the 200-meter backstroke and 200-meter freestyle and a world record in the 400-meter individual medley. As a result, he attempted to qualify for 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 the last time that the Summer Paralympics were organized by two different Organ ...

. Although he failed to qualify for those Olympics, Perry qualified for the

by beating his own record with a time of 1 minute and 5.66 seconds. In his Paralympcis debut, Perry won a gold medal in the Men's 100 metre backstroke S9 while also setting the Paralympic world record in the 200-meter backstroke. Perry returned to the Paralympic Games in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

where he won a bronze medal in the Men's 100 metre backstroke S9.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Jarrett Living people Sportspeople from Wichita, Kansas Year of birth missing (living people) Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States World record holders in paralympic swimming Paralympic medalists in swimming American male backstroke swimmers S9-classified para swimmers Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics University of Colorado alumni 21st-century American sportsmen